


Zeros

by GydroZMaa



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-01 19:08:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 142,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2784344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GydroZMaa/pseuds/GydroZMaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the Tekniq Era when technology can predict the ideal relationships for humans, Emil Steilsson has waited his entire life to meet his soul mate. But when his special someone turns out to not only be Leon Wang, a famous pop star and actor but a guy, as well, he must decide where their relationship will ultimately draw a line, be it friendship, love, or nothing at all. This story is loosely TiMER inspired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

The weather channel predicted light showers this afternoon. It is morning. He will not need an umbrella where he is going.

His brother, a clockwork morning coffee drinker, leans back from his chair before he sets out.

"Are you nervous?" he asks.

"No," comes a reply. "See you later."

Railways and buses are abundant in the city. The world has changed since the Tekniq Era. It is a better place. It is a more convenient place.

Where the tide of the pedestrians takes him does not concern him. Time only matters. He will know he is in the right place when the numbers turn into zeros. He continues to walk until then.

The crowds soon become congested. He slips past the pedestrian traffic and changes his route in a different direction. He remembers there being a park on a rooftop of a conventional building. He goes there.

The light showers start earlier than expected. His hair dampens in the light moisture soaking into his white bangs. There is no one else here on the rooftop save for a lone observer leaning against the railing. His head is turned towards the city below the entire time. That leaves both of them at peace.

The minutes tick by. There are only two minutes left. He takes out his crystal-engraved pocket watch to reassure himself. One minute and seventeen seconds left. The silver face and sapphire numbers flicker in the overcast light.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

He starts. The young man from the railing is looking at him with a distant gaze. There is only one person he can be talking to.

"Yes," he replies and lowers his head. He does not need the unnecessary attention from this person. He is waiting for someone else.

Thirty-three seconds. His heartbeat quickens. It is as if there is a butterfly fluttering in his chest, desperate to escape from its rib-caged prison. He holds it off and swallows his nervousness. That person will be here soon.

Another ten seconds pass. He thinks to begin his mental countdown at ten seconds. To reassure himself, he slips out his pocket watch and checks the time. The little numbers tick by. Those engraved for the years, days, hours, and minutes are all zeros. It will not be long before all the numbers display a blank.

His heart jolts with electricity. His feelings are overwhelming. Twelve seconds. Now eleven. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five.

"Four. Three…Two…One…"

And the numbers all show zeros.

He looks up at the only door leading off and to the roof. It does not open. No one else comes. He looks at his pocket watch with a crease between his eyebrows. The numbers are never wrong. This is impossible.

Perhaps his watch broke. Fear overtakes when him he thinks of that possibility. Maybe he was not supposed to meet that person today. Maybe he was supposed to meet that person many days ago, maybe even years.

He stares at the door for a good three minutes. The rain has soaked his hair through and through now. His brother will scold him if he catches a cold.

No one comes. There is only him and the other lone person on the roof.

His stomach wavers. He feels sick. This was not supposed to happen. Not like this. There was something wrong with the system. Someone should have come. He should be talking to that person right now.

His lips and throat are dry in spite of the humidity. He thinks that because it is raining it will be alright to cry. The raindrops will mask his tears on his way home.

He seizes himself and stands up. It is then that the other man makes his presence known again.

"Your watch went off, didn't it?" he says.

He stops dead in his tracks. Was he watching him? He looks over his shoulder and sees the man for who he is. His face almost looks familiar. He studies him. No. He has never met this person in his life before today. He still answers him.

"Yes," he replies. "It did. But how did you know?"

It cannot be a coincidence. It never is. Some call it predetermined chance. Those who do not know any better call it luck. And then there are those who call it fate.

The man pulls out a crystal-engraved pocket watch. He pops it open and reveals a dazzling golden coating with ruby-red numbers. They have all stopped at zeros. He is he one he has been waiting for.

He refuses to believe it at first. This is not who he wants to see. The person that will change the course of his life, who will ultimately be a part of his life, is him?

"No." He steps back. "You can't be that person."

The man tilts his head as if in confusion. "Why not?"

His lips tremble as he speaks. "B-Because…You're a-a—"

"A guy?" he finishes.

He nods, embarrassed.

The man does not show him any sympathy. "Put me in your shoes," he snaps. "How do you think I feel right now knowing the most important person in my life is another guy?"

"Not very good," he assumes with a hung head.

"No shit," he curses. "I've waited nineteen years of my life for this? For you?"

His words sting. He flinches at how direct he is. He can relate, though. To say he is disappointed is an understatement. But he does not let his words slide so easily. He did not want this, either.

"I've waited nineteen years, too," he speaks in a low voice. "I didn't expect you to be…whatever it is you're supposed to be." He looks bitterly at his pocket watch. "I don't know if this is supposed to be a joke or not. I thought things would be different. I thought things would be better."

The man snorts at his words. "Better?" he echoes. "You might want to take that back depending on how you look at it."

He does not understand and remains silent.

"Let me ask you this—do you know who I am?"

"No. We've never met before."

It does not look like that was the correct answer to give. "We didn't have to meet for you to know who I am. Seriously? You really don't know me?"

"No," he repeats. "Am I supposed to?" He cannot help but feel that he has seen him somewhere before.

The man grabs him by his collar. There is a dark look in his eyes. "I'm Leon," he growls. "Leon Wang. As in the actor?"

It makes sense now. He remembers his face. He has seen it on movie posters and commercials. His face is everywhere these days. How did he miss it before?

"O-Oh," he stutters. "Yes, I remember now."

His grip releases from his collar to give him room to breathe. "You'd better remember it," he spits. "What about you? You got a name?"

He lowers his head. His name cannot compare.

"Emil," he tells him. "Emil Steilsson."

"Huh." This Leon character leans back against the railing and stares back at the city. "And I snuck out of my hotel room for this?" He looks at him again. "But you're not half-bad looking. Do you dye your hair?"

He fingers the messy tufts of silvery white hair on his sides. "It's natural."

Leon's thick eyebrows arch. "You don't say. Huh." He licks the rain running from his lips. "I think this actually might work out."

Emil blinks. "What will?"

"Us," he bluntly answers. "You, me, we can be a thing. Not…soul mates or whatever. Just…" He shrugs. "Friends, I guess?"

"Friends," he echoes. The air grows still around him. The light showers continue to fall and soak him slowly but surely. The city smells like light honey. His surroundings are clear. He is alive. He is breathing. His numbers stopped at their zeros. This is really the one he is destined to be with.

"Something wrong?" the actor asks. His bangs are noticeably stylized. They part in asymmetrical lengths in the front and sweep to the sides in elegant locks. It makes sense considering he is an actor. He looks nice all the same.

Emil's stomach tightens when he wraps his arms around his waist. His heart is still fluttering. It is a different kind of fluttering.

"…I've never had a friend before." His voice is so soft it can almost be a whisper. Leon cannot hear him with the rain pitter-pattering along the rooftop.

"What was that? Can you speak up?"

He speaks a little louder. "I've never had a friend before."

He hears it the second time. "Never?"

"Never." His arms tighten around his waist. "I thought it wouldn't matter when I met my significant other. I guess that isn't really happening."

"No. You're wrong there." His hand extends out to him. "You've got me."

He can hardly believe his ears. It is unusual for a celebrity to extend his generosity to a complete stranger. It does not even matter if their watches stopped at the same time. This sort of thing is rare or unheard of.

"You can't be serious." He leaves Leon's hand frozen in the rain.

"I am. Our numbers hit zero at the same time. We've gotta have something between us."

His lips nearly crack a smile. It is as if he is listening to a foreign language. No one ever tells him things like this. It must be what some call "fate."

"Maybe," he breaths a laugh and takes his hand. They shake and acknowledge each other's presence. "It's nice to finally meet you…Leon."

"Same here, Emil," he smiles. There is no doubt that he is an actor. All of his features are in the right place. He does not appear too feminine or too masculine. He is beautiful.

They at last break their handshake and make small talk on the solitary rooftop.

"What do you do for a living?" Leon asks him.

"Nothing," comes the reply. "I'm a college student."

"Hmm." He does not carry on the conversation.

"I'm going to assume you don't have the time to go to college?"

"Not exactly. I'm what you can call 'homeschooled.' My guardian teaches me."

"I didn't know you could get homeschooled at a college level."

"There's a first for everything."

Their voices fall into silence as the showers continue. Leon soon gets up from the railing and heads towards the door.

"You're leaving?" Emil asks.

"Yup. I need to get back before my agent and guardian finds out I'm missing. They can't give two shits if I came here to meet my soul mate. Oh. Before I go…" He slips his hand inside his pocket and takes out a little plastic card. Water droplets slide off the glossy surface like beads of oil to a swan's down. It is a business card.

"Give me a call," he says as he hands it over. "Just say your name. My agent will hook me up with you."

His throat is parched like paper when he takes it. It almost feels like he is taking a large check from a generous donor. It is a humbling feeling.

"I…thank you," he shyly says and pockets the card. "Will we see each other again?"

A flawless smile spreads on Leon's celebrity-winning lips. "We will. Until then." He taps his shoulder before disappearing down the stairs leaving Emil alone again. He stays a while before deciding to head back home to deliver the news to his brother. His soul mate is another guy. His name is Leon Wang. He is a celebrity. He is beyond perfect.


	2. II

Emil arrives home earlier than expected. His brother is still in the house since he decided to take the day off for his brother's special occasion. However, when he enters the dining room, he reads his younger brother's face only to see it is not one of positive love-struck emotions. There is something wrong.

"Did you see her?" he asks when his brother sits down.

Emil presses his lips together until they are chalk white from the lack of blood circulation. His lavender eyes are a dull shade of cloudy gray, and his hands are clumsily folded on top of the table; his thumbs are fidgeting and crossing over one another. These are all sure signs that something has been troubling him for the past hour or so.

"Emil," his brother speaks up. He places a thin but tender hand over his brother's folded ones. "Did you or did you not meet your other today?" He has always called the complimenting partner of another person "others." It is understandable where he is coming from, but to Emil, it is an entirely different scenario.

At last, he finally musters up his courage and his words, and with quivering lips struggling to form syllables, he tells him who he saw.

"Lukas," he pronounces his brother's name in shaky iterations, "I met him today."

His brother freezes for a moment. His eyebrows are arched in a slanted decline towards the bridge of his nose in complex scowl. One word stood out in particular from his brother's statement.

_Him._

He met  _him_  today.

He holds himself back from an inquisition. He has an idea of how his brother must be experiencing right now. "Disappointment" is nowhere near enough to describe what he must be feeling. All that talk about him meeting his soul mate and living happily together may now be a thing of the past. This changes everything.

"Tell me what he was like," he says with a careful voice. While it is clearly a demand, it comes out with such serenity that his brother does not hesitate to provide him with some form of an answer.

With folded hands wrapped tightly in overlapping fists, he shuts his eyes and tells him.

"He…our watches went off at the same time. I went to the park on the rooftop. You remember the one?"

"Yes," Lukas nods. "I remember. Please continue."

Emil swallows a lump in his throat before doing so. "He was already there when I went onto the roof." One hand absentmindedly moves to his hair and fingers a lock. The ends are dripping wet. The showers must have started early today.

He continues. "I knew he was a guy so I didn't pay attention to him. And when my watch went off…" He chokes up. His hand falls back onto the table, clenching up into tight, constricted balls. His knuckles are white. When Lukas' eyes move to the tablecloth, he notices there are wet droplets, not from the rain gathering from his hair, but from the tears spilling from his eyes. This must be an extreme shock to him. He is honestly surprised his brother was able to hold in his emotions for this entire time.

"Sorry," he apologizes before his voice seizes up. He hiccups and covers his mouth with his hand, practically suffocating himself to hold in the tears. A hand moves to his shoulder, softly massaging him for comfort.

"It's alright, Ice," he whispers, his voice muting into a whisper. "It's alright."

Emil continues his episode for another good ten minutes before the tears finally come to a stop. Nineteen years is a long time to wait just to have his world come crumbling down on him.

When he finally recovers, his breath is shaky and hoarse. His eyes are swollen from the saltine tears, and his nose continues to run. There are wads of crumpled tissues scattered around him in a collection. Lukas tells him he will clean up for him.

"If it's too much, you don't have to tell me," he says, but he is not being entirely truthful. If his brother turned out like him, he needs to know. He wants to be able to help him through this. His case is slightly different, but all the same, he understands what he is going through.

"Ice…"

"No." His brother shakes his head and dabs his eyes with a tissue. "It's different. This isn't like you and…" He hiccups. "It's different," he repeats.

How different can it be, Lukas wonders? His other is a guy. Both of them suspected Emil would have a woman. How did it become like this?

"Lukas…" He wipes his nose and crumples another tissue into a fisted damp wad. "His name is Leon Wang."

 _Leon Wang_. He plays the name over in his head like an archaic record player, an ancient device long outdated and only found in museums. The name is all too familiar. He thinks he heard it somewhere before, though his work keeps him busy from all else. There are few people he remembers. So why this person?

"You don't know him, either." To his amazement and conflicted disturbance, his brother laughs a little. It sounds forced, like the defeated laughter of someone who has accepted defeat and ruin.

"Should I know him?" he asks.

Emil's head lowers so much so that his neck is poised at a near ninety-degree angle. His voice has since fallen still.

"He's famous," he tells him. "He's an actor. A pop star, even. I looked into him on the way back. His face is all over the place. He even got mad at me for not knowing who he was."

Lukas is taken aback. So this is what his brother meant when he said this Leon person was different. He is on an entirely different level than his other, though he suspects this person cannot compare. No one ever will.

"Did he say anything to you?" he asks. He is careful to use the questions he reserved for his brother's other—the one that they both thought would be a woman.

"He gave me this." He pulls out a glossy white business card from his pocket. There is a crease from where he jammed it into his pants, but the letters and numbers are in plain sight to see. In jet-black capital letters, the card reads  **Wang Studio**. Below that, Leon's name is not there, rather, a person by the name of Kiku Honda. Further down, there are numbers, a phone number, most likely, followed by an address.

"Golden Avenue," he mutters aloud. That is where the elite and the wealthy live. It must be where this agency of Leon's is.

"He told me to give him a call," Emil tells him. "If I tell them my name, his agent said he'd hook me up."

Lukas does not understand what he means by "hook me up," though he assumes he must be talking about getting ahold of him. Such lingo is past his knowledge.

"Why don't you give him a few days?" he suggests. "At least until you can sort some things out."

"Yeah," Emil nods. He takes his suggestion into consideration without any resistance.

"One more thing. How do you think he felt about you?"

His brother's silvery eyebrows creased and furrowed like it was a trick question he is unprepared for. At least, he recalls what his other told him. "He said that we can be friends."

"Friends," he repeats. His heart gives a little jolt. This will be the first time his brother will have ever managed to reach out to someone as a friend. Before, it was just the two of them, travelling along life's road and its whims. Never did they think they would need anyone else in their life because they were both fortunate enough to have others. However, in their rare instances, perhaps friends are better than nothing.

"That's impossible," he says. "And how old is he?"

"Nineteen. Like me."

"You've never had a friend your age before."

His brother's expression falls flat. "I've never had a friend, period."

He acknowledges that and leans back in his chair. "Well," he sighs, "at least you've found him. I was hoping it would be a woman, but if this is what they wanted, then there's nothing we can do about it. Still…" He moves his hand over to his brother's face and brushes back the bangs concealing his swollen eyes. "Since he's a celebrity, you'll have to be careful around him. There is no such thing as being friends with someone famous. They only use you for their personal gain. I don't care if he's your other or someone you just met on the streets. You cannot trust him. Understand?"

"Yes…" he timidly nods. His word remains absolute. Nothing gets past his older brother. What he says goes. There is no need for questioning. He is always right.

Lukas then gets up from his seat and pours his brother a glass of water. "Drink this," he says. "You must be dehydrated after that." His brother wordlessly takes the glass and sips some water. "And gets some rest," he adds. "It must have been a long day for you. You can worry about Leon another time."

"Mm-hmm," he says as he is finishing his water. When his glass is empty, he thanks his brother and heads to his room to take a nap. Sleep escapes him for the first fleeting moments. What will he say to Leon the next time they meet? What about the press? Will they affect Leon's career? Will they affect his livelihood? And most importantly of all…what will he be like as a friend?

His thoughts heavy with questions, Emil's eyelids grow heavy like sandbags and shut over his eyes. Soon, his breathing eases, and the quick hiccups from earlier subside as he drifts off into a deep slumber.

* * *

The next two days go by as normal. Emil goes to his college classes and returns to an empty house. Most days are like this when his brother is at work. And then there are other days when his brother can afford to come home early. It is these days when  _he_ comes over for a visit.

On the third day after meeting Leon, Emil comes home to the smell of earthen bread baking in the oven. His stomach growls from running on empty for the past five hours of school. The salty and herb-rich smells of cold cuts mix in with light but rich butter. Only one person would have the time to enter his house and find the time to bake like this.

"Oh! Ice! You're home!" A loud voice blasts his eardrums, and literally shakes the fragile porcelain and glassware perched on the shelves and glass cabinets. A well-built, tall, and jovial figure is standing in the kitchen. He is wearing Lukas' apron—which he, himself, never uses, anyway—and is putting on a bright, wide smile too big for Emil's rigid jaws to manage. His most iconic feature of all, besides his loud voice, is his wild, upright blonde hair that points to the sky in messy, over-stylized tufts and spikes. There are points of it where it looks natural, and others where it looks like he dug his hand into a bucket of hair gel and spooned his hair over the top.

While he checks on the bread baking in the oven, Emil gives him a short greeting, sets down his bag, and plops into a seat. There are already slices of thick rye and cheese on the table. He helps himself to some while the visitor begins to run his mouth.

"So Lukas told me ya met your soul mate a few days ago," he says like he is asking him how is day was; his amount of casualness is beyond comprehension.

When Emil does not offer a reply, the man takes a seat across from him and places a large hand on his head, covering the entirety of his silver mop with a single palm.

"Hey, cheer up, Ice." He gives him a reassuring grin, but like most times, his efforts are futile. Emil shakes his hand off and continues to eat.

"Did Lukas tell you everything, Mathias?" he glowers at him with menacing lavender eyes.

His brother's longtime childhood friend falters and tucks his hand away. He continues to smile, but the effects are not as bright as before. Clearly the news must have troubled him, too, when he first heard about it.

"Yeah," he says, his voice considerably lower. "I mean, I was kinda hoping you would bring home a lovely lady and be all 'Hey, we're getting married!' or something like that." He laughs and proceeds to sheepishly scratch his forehead, a gesture he often does when he is feeling unsure of himself. "Ah, but I guess that's not the case, is it?"

Neither one of them speak. They both know the answer to that question.

The silence continues to spread in the room until the timer on the oven rings with a pleasant electronic  _beep_ , prompting Mathias to shoot out of his chair and throw on his oven mitts.

"Whoops! Gotta check on this real quick, Ice." He crouches over and pops open the oven. The muffled smell that was leaking through the vents now hits Emil's olfactory senses at full effects, sending hunger signals further down his stomach. Apparently the mere slices of bread and butter he ate were not enough to satiate his appetite.

Meanwhile, Mathias is placing a large wooden pick in the middle. When it comes out clean, he shuts off the oven and grabs the bread out. It is steaming with a pleasant earthy aroma as the golden crust crackles in place. Mathias wastes no time cutting into the loaf in equal pieces with inhumane precision and speed until, seconds later, there is a new batch of freshly cut bread sitting on a plate at the table.

"Thanks, Mathias," Emil says and takes a hot piece. He grabs a napkin to prevent his fingers from getting burned.

Mathias, in the meantime, grabs a piece of his own and starts to wolf down the bread. Emil assumes he has not eaten at all since baking. He must have saved himself until everything was ready, the dedicated fool.

" _Mm_ —So, like…" He stops to chew. "About this soul mate of yers…"

Emil makes a face and flicks him straight on his exposed forehead. Mathias makes a small sound before swallowing.

" _Hrmph!_  What was that for?"

"You're twenty-nine years old," he frowns. "Didn't your mother ever teach you how to chew with your mouth closed?"

"Whatcha talking about?" he chuckles. "I do, don't I?"

Emil gives up and eats the rest of his bread in silence. All the while, Mathias runs his mouth, though he is careful not to interrupt himself with his chewing sounds.

"I really didn't believe Lukas when he first told me about it," he says when he finishes. "I mean, another one of you guys finding a soul mate that's another guy? That's pretty much unheard of, doncha think?"

"It should be impossible," Emil sighs.

"Yeah. But that's kinda not too bad, either. And he said your soul mate's Leon Wang, right?"

"Yeah."

"Leon Wang as in—"

"The famous guy. Yes." He sighs again. Ever since finding out about Leon Wang, he keeps hearing and seeing his name everywhere. Even the girls at the college he attends talk about him and his newest movies. Online, there are articles upon articles detailing parts of his life in painfully specific details, glossing over his quirky habits, cataloging what he eats, pouring over what he does for his workout routines, and disclosing which stylists he goes to. He is, in short, a real-life celebrity in the flesh.

"Gee." Mathias chuckles to himself. "Who would've thought that a humble guy like you'd end up with such a big hotshot like him, huh?"

Emil fingers his short bangs and brushes them aside. "I certainly didn't think this would happen."

"Tell me about it!" he laughs. "You're going to be famous! Imagine what the press is going to say when they find out Leon Wang's soul mate is a—!"

But he never finishes because before he can utter another syllable, something goes flying across the dining room and into his face. When the shouting and cursing dissipate, Emil sees that the object that struck him is a textbook—a heavy one at that.

"I think that's enough, Mathias." It is Lukas. He has returned from the office for today. "Noisy idiot," he additionally grumbles when he throws down his jacket and bag.

"Hi, Brother," Emil casually greets him when he grabs a piece of bread. "How was it today?"

"Busy," he yawns and nibbles a piece of crust like a contemptuous mouse.

The fragile silence is soon cut short when Mathias recovers from the protruding bump on the side of his cranium. Both brothers know he tends to exaggerate over his injuries like a whining child in order to get attention. After a while, he will give up to their lack of sympathy like he always does.

"Ha…" He pants and flops on the table. "It's nice to see you, too, Lukas."

Lukas, not one to give anyone but his brother a warm greeting, throws a cold, distant look his way without so much as a "Hello." One may never expect that they, like Emil and Leon, had their watches stop at the exact same moment and at the exact same time.

"Anyway," he weakly chuckles when he gathers himself together, "Ice an' I were having a heart-to-heart chat about you-know-who."

"So I heard from down the block," Emil's brother remarks. He means to say that in order to imply how loud Mathias is; however, the remark sails past his ears and misses its target.

"I was wondering if you were alright with this an' all," he continues on. "Seeing how this means Ice is going to be getting a lot of attention pretty soon. You cool with that, Lukas?"

The crust between his fingers crumbles in his grip. He can barely contain himself at how normally Mathias treats this situation. Emil's life until now has always revolved around him. At the time, he thought it would not matter if he found someone he truly loved. After all, did people not say, "If you truly love someone, set them free?"

But this Leon character…Emil will never— _must_ never—fall in love with him. It will be like asking for his heart to be broken. Beyond the cameras and the photos, how much of him is actually real? And if and when Emil uncovers who he really is, how will he be able to handle it?

Emil, sensing his brother's conflicting distress, steps in and tries to take the reins of the conversation. "It's not going to be like that, Mathias," he hurriedly says. "When I talked with Leon, it just sounded like he wanted us to be friends." His hands start to fidget. "Just because we're guys, it doesn't mean we have to necessarily  _love_ each other, right?"

He sees his brother relax a little and assumes that was what he was so worked up about.

"All my life, I've always thought that as long as there's someone out there who really cared for me, nothing else would matter—there would always be one person that I could be with and always be happy around. Leon might not be someone like that, maybe not even along the lines of a real friend, but I want to know the real him. If this is what they wanted, then I'm sure it wasn't without a good reason."

Mathias blinks his sky-blue eyes. "Whatever floats your boat, Ice. I'm not bent on stopping you. Do what you want to do." Then, he places a large hand over Lukas' crisscrossed fingers. "Right, Lukas?"

Lukas gives him his answer with a face full of fists. Emil excuses himself from the table when the noise escalates into a screaming fit. When he retreats into his room, he turns to his phone and eyes the business card that remains sitting idly and harmlessly on his desk. He goes over to it and stares at it, the black letters and numbers cutting into his eyes with sharp colors despite the blinds concealing his window being shut.

" _Why don't you give him a few days?"_

He still remembers his brother's suggestion. This is the third day since he last spoke with Leon. Three days sounds like a sufficient amount of time to get back to him. It is supposed to be a lucky number, after all, he tells himself as he begins to dial the numbers on his phone.

* * *

In an agency on the other side of the city, centered in Golden Avenue, high atop Wang Studios, and located in the branching office for one of the studio's best agents, a man by the name of Kiku Honda receives an incoming call from an unknown source. He will normally delete such calls without a second's thought, but his boss's son (also considered one of his clients) instructed him to be on the lookout for any unknown callers coming his way. Because of those instructions, he was forced to take calls from companies and agencies trying to make deals with everyone's newest and most beloved star: Leon Wang.

All of them were declined.

This however…

"Wang Studio representative Kiku Honda speaking," he answers with a businesslike voice, void of any emotion but chipper in attitude for his reputation's sake. "How may I help you?"

He mentally prepares a small speech of polite decline at the ready. It always helps to expect the unexpected when the smaller agencies manage to get ahold of his number.

But instead, much to his surprise, the voice over the phone expresses less confidence than even his half-managed tone. In fact, it is almost  _timid_. Surely this voice cannot belong to a representative of an agency or company.

"Um…Excuse me. I'm sorry."

Judging by the slight dip in tone, he suspects it is a boy around his late teens. On a better day he might have found his apology to be cute.

"I-I'm Emil Steilsson. Leon said that if I wanted to get in touch with him that I should call this number…?"

He seems oddly innocent. Whatever his relationship with Leon is, this person amuses him—at least long enough that he does not consider hanging up immediately.

"One moment, please," he tells the caller and puts him on hold. Then, he starts to dial Leon on a separate line. For convenience's sake, there is a phone hooked directly to all of the important members of Wang Studio. His call to Leon goes through, and he waits for three rings before the line picks up.

"What's up, Kiku?" a snappy voice answers. At this point, Kiku knows Leon is not so impatient as he is always short on time. He decides to be quick.

"A certain Emil Steilsson is on the other line," he tells him. "Is this the person you were waiting for?"

"Oh, yeah, him," he hears him chuckling through the speaker. "Yeah, put him on."

"Right away." He connects the lines and lets the two go about their business. For privacy's sake, he hangs up on his end and continues to do his work.

* * *

Back at his house, Emil is pacing around his room. He has never called someone like this before. The only living people he can think of ever calling in his entire life are bickering like a married couple downstairs. That leaves this Kiku person and Leon to be the only other ones he has ever spoken over the phone with.

Suddenly, someone answers on the other line after what seemed like an eternity of on-hold elevator music. The muscles in his body slightly relax when he recognizes the voice.

"Hello? This Emil?"

"Um…yes. It's me." His feet have since stopped in place, but now his free hand is pulling at his sweater out of nervousness. It feels almost as nerve-wracking as if he is standing in front of Leon in real life.

"Hey, how's it going?" he chuckles over the line. His casual tone helps his heart rate relax to normal. His manner of speaking vaguely reminds him of Mathias.

"Everything's good," he says. "I'm really sorry if you're busy. I have no reason to call you, but I just felt like it, so you wouldn't think I didn't remember you."

More chuckling. "You're something else. You don't get out that much, do you?"

"No…" he shamefully admits. He can feel his cheeks steaming up like he stepped into a sauna. The way Leon can analyze his voice over something as simple as a phone call makes him feel vulnerable.

"Thought so." A pause comes from Leon's end. "You know, like, you actually called at a pretty good time. I'm just about done where I'm at. Do you wanna, like, I dunno, go somewhere fun around five?"

His abrupt question catches him off guard. "What? You mean today? Really?"

"Yeah, why not? I've got some time to kill."

Emil does not. He has homework to finish and papers to write; not to mention he still has to study for exams. However, in spite of all of that, the enticing thought of being able to spend time with this person lures him over. This will be the first time they can spend real time together, to be real friends. If this is what friends do, then he thinks it will not matter if he goes out for one evening.

"Okay," he says. "Where are we going?"

"How about Retro?"

Retro is a district located in the eastern part of Holo, the city they live in. The district was constructed for the sole purpose of entertainment: arcades, stadiums, and restaurants litter the strips with neon lights and cubism-influenced architecture. It is also a popular attraction for young adults like Emil and Leon twenty-four hours a day, yet it also happens to be a place where Emil suspects someone will recognize Leon.

"Wh-What if someone recognizes you?" he asks just to be safe.

"Nah, they won't," he laughs it off. "Are you cool with that place, though?"

"Sure?" He means to answer it like a statement, but it comes out as a doubtful question.

"Sweet. Hey, since, like, it looks like you're far away, I'll send a pass your way, m'kay?"

Emil blinks. "A pass? Wait—How do you even know where I live?" But before he can get an answer, a different kind of ringing sounds out from his phone. It is the chime of an incoming message, an attachment to be exact. The attachment reads "Speed Pass." When he opens it, something begins to download, and, upon completion, an electronic image displays a picture of a high-speed railing pass used only for the wealthy and privileged.

"This is…"

"Didja get the attachment?" Leon suddenly startles him.

"Y-Yeah, I did," he confirms, pressing his ear back on the speaker.

"I'll be waiting by the blue station," he tells him before giving him a few quick parting words. "Oh, and one last thing: you haven't told anyone about us, have you?"

Emil understands. He does not want the media to invade his privacy if something catastrophic happens. This counts for his own safety, too. Who knows if some rabid fan will fester into a psychopathic rage and try to kill him out of jealousy? As far as he knows, the only people who know about his relationship on his end are Lukas and Mathias.

"Just my brother and his…friend," he says.

"Oh. Are they the talkative type?"

"Well…" Lukas will definitely not tell anyone. He barely speaks to Emil when they are alone. Mathias is a different story, but as long as Lukas is there to keep him under control, he does not think he will give anything out. "My brother's quiet like me, and his friend can control himself."

Leon does not reply for a while. When he does, his tone has changed into a more careful one. "Well, just make sure you don't tell too many people if you don't have to. Trying to watch out for press is bad enough as it is, you know."

"I can only imagine," he sighs.

"Whatev's. I'm leaving right now. Remember: blue station."

"Blue station," he repeats to confirm.

"Bingo. Later, then." Without another word, the phone call ends, and the room is quiet once again. Down below, the shouting softened into idle chitchat between Lukas and Mathias. Emil suspects they are talking about him or their days at work. Nothing usually changes around here.

That being said, things are about to change for Emil. He remembers going to Retro twice in his life: once when his parents were still alive and took him and his brother there to play in the amusement park, and once when his brother brought him there for his sixteenth birthday. While it was only three years since his last visit, it seems so long ago since feeling humbled by the dazzling displays of neon lights. As he gets dressed, his heartbeat begins to quick. Knowing that he is going somewhere with someone other than Lukas or Mathias for a change gets his blood rushing and his breath shortening. He cannot remember the last time he has felt so excited.

Before leaving, he makes sure he has everything necessary: his phone with the built-in speed pass, his wallet, and his pocket watch. Though the numbers have since stopped at their zeros, he feels a need to carry his lifeless pocket watch wherever he goes. It is almost like a heirloom or a good-luck charm, much like the cross-shaped hairpin his brother wears on the left side of his bangs at all times.

The only thing left to do is to tell his brother where he is going. At nineteen years of age, Emil is considered a fully responsible adult capable of making his own decisions. He technically does not have to abide by his brother's "my house, my rules" sort of thing since this is something beyond his control. He cannot say that Leon Wang is his soul mate, nor can he say that he is truly a real friend—yet—but fate brought them together, and he believes it will be fate that decides on where their relationship goes.

Mustering up his courage, he heads down the stairs, dressed in noticeably fashionable attire compared to his normal sweater and jeans. It is Mathias who immediately spots him and lets out a low whistle.

"Look who's all dressed up for an occasion," he grins. "Ya going somewhere, Ice?"

His cheeks flush pink at Mathias' remark. If he is acting like this in front of someone he knows, he wonders how he will react if a stranger or even Leon comments on his appearance.

Lukas then turns around, his normally dull eyes lighting up when he sees his little brother prepared to head out. "Where are you going?" he asks him.

"Out," he tells him. He does not want to play the lying game, so he comes out as honest as possible. He thinks it will save him trouble from down the road. "I'm going to Retro with Leon."

Mathias stands up from the table, clearly excited by the news. "What?!" he cries. "You're going on a date already? That's great! Tell us all about it when you get b— _ack!_ "

Lukas' fist is still lodged in Mathias' mouth when he speaks. "When did you contact him?"

The blood continues to circulate in Emil's cheeks. He must be bright scarlet by now. "Just now when you guys were talking. I thought three days was enough of a wait time. Besides, he said today was a good day."

His brother's eyes narrowed sending chills down his spine. "Tonight's a school night, Ice. Your job right now is to study, not to goof off and waste your time playing with that boy. Don't forget he's a celebrity. His priorities are different because he has money. He doesn't care if you have a twenty-page paper to write by tomorrow or not. Your education comes first."

"You're not the boss of me," Emil snaps at him. "And I don't have that much homework. It's just a short paper and some chemistry problems."

Lukas refuses to budge. "It's not just that, Ice. Retro is a dangerous district. The population of people going there are people who are inclined to mob Leon if his identity is made known. You can get into a lot of unwanted trouble if someone finds you hanging around that boy."

"He's done this thing before," he counters. "He even snuck out of his hotel to see me, remember?"

It is at this point when Mathias manages to get Lukas' fist out of his large mouth. "Blah!" he pants. "It's okay, Ice! Have fun out there! Live your life with your soul mate!"

Lukas clicks his tongue and then pulls on his companion's spiky hair. For something that manages to defy gravity, it is surprisingly soft when touched. "Don't encourage him, you buffoon. And what are you? His irresponsible father?"

"But wouldn't that make me your father, too?" Mathias chuckles while somehow managing to bear the tear-jerking pain.

"Don't make me sick!" Lukas snaps. In his distraction, he fails to notice his brother slipping away from the kitchen, popping on his shoes, and flying out the front door.

"I'll call you when I'm coming back!" he shouts back into the house before shutting the door and running as fast as he can towards the station.

"Dammit, Mathias!" Lukas roars and tears away from him, kicking chairs and pushing through walls to reach the door, but by the time he shoots out of the house, his brother is long gone.


	3. III

The rail systems in Holo connect the entire city in a ring-shaped track that circles each and every district. There are four tracks in all: two tracks for regular passengers moving clockwise and counter-clockwise called the Bolt Rails, and two tracks that take the same pathway reserved for those who pay a premium price for faster transportation and less passenger congestion. The faster ones are called the Lightning Rails; these are the rails Emil can permanently take to any part of the city to his heart's content, courtesy of Leon's generosity. Normally, when he does take the rail systems, he only goes out to Trip for some extra shopping, and during his travels, he was previously accustomed to taking the Bolt Rails like most regular passengers. That being said, the Bolt Rails are always crowded with civilians trying to get from one point to another; pickpocketing is also a common occurrence so most passengers tend to avoid bringing any valuables along if possible. Here on the Lightning Rails, fortunately, Emil no longer has to worry about that.

His first reaction when entering the Lightning Rail was one of complete awe. Instead of the torn tacky seats, gum-littered floors, and stuffy passengers pushing against one another, he is surprised to see how empty and clean it is. Fancy royal blue seats dot the carts on both sides with clean windows free from dust and other miscellaneous smudges and spits. There is a refreshingly pleasant smell of sharp yet subtle cologne and perfume stirred in with the crisp scent of newly tailored clothes. The only people sitting in the cart with him appear to be prominent and successful businessmen; they are dressed from head to toe in what he can only assume to be brand name tuxedos and suits made only from the finest materials offered on the market. Some people are checking their phones for any business updates, and others are quietly making personal calls to companies or representatives. One thing is for certain: none of them are keen on paying Emil any attention.

When the carts begin to move, he eagerly takes a seat beside the window facing the outer rim of the tracks and stares out through the glass. He feels somewhat out of place with the plush cushions and sleek floors, not to mention the businessmen who obviously can afford to pay for a pass on the Lightning Rails. But he pushes his doubts aside and enjoys the ride while he can. The motion is pleasantly smooth like sliding down a slope of compacted snow on a sled. The ride is also significantly faster as the buildings graze past his eyes like quick blurs of color and infrastructure; within a few seconds rather than the twenty minutes he expects the ride to take, the Lightning Rails are already at the first station of Wire, the market district.

"That was...fast," he softly chuckles to himself. He then wonders what the entire point of having such fancy carts even is. If the ride is going to be so short, why bother spending money making the seats so elaborate and posh?

Nevertheless, there is little room for complaints as the Lightning Rail sails to the next station in a blink of an eye. In three minutes flat, the rail has already covered the entirety of Trip's stops. The Retro district is next. And, as expected, the blue station comes into view within a dome-like tunnel with blue LED lights flashing through the curved walls. Frosted blue glass composes the main walls of the tunnel to keep out the rain when passengers board, and while it gives off a hypnotic blue lighting, Emil can still see his surroundings from his seat. With the sun setting over the city, there is a majestic orange glow reflecting into the electric city painted with assorted rainbow lights. The real fun begins at nighttime when the entire district comes alive with youth, games, and music galore. Such liveliness makes Emil wonder how he has managed to miss out on all the activities even after living a mere rail ride away.

"Retro district blue station," a cool female voice announces over the intercom. "We are now in Retro district blue station."

Emil wastes no time getting out and heading down the escalators to the ground floor. Since it is well into the evening, there are plenty of teenagers sporting glowing attire walking around the streets. Black lights strobe in a continuous on and off flicker that makes it appear as though anyone wearing bright colors is aglow. Emil's outfit does not have such an effect as he is wearing darker blue colors. With everyone else looking the same, however, he cannot imagine being able to find Leon in a place like this. A meek sense of fear wallows over him as he stretches his neck out hoping to spot the familiar face among the crowds of teenagers and young adults. Then again, since Leon is a celebrity, he does not expect to spot him so easily; if he can find him, practically anyone else can.

"Why didn't I ask for his phone number?" he mutters to himself as he continues his search. Sometimes he thinks he sees the familiar face of his significant other, but it always turns out to be another person who walks in the other direction. He has never paid attention to the side-bang cut and front-swept style until meeting Leon. Perhaps it caught on because of the teenage pop star.

This game of hide and seek continues for a while until he finally stops to rest on a nearby bench not too far from the station. He checks his phone's clock; the time reads half and hour after five. He has been searching for Leon for at least thirty whole minutes.

Suddenly, he starts to have doubts. What if it this is all a big joke? What if Leon never planned on coming to begin with? What if this is just his sick, twisted game he enjoys playing on people?

"No," he grumbles and pockets his phone. "What am I thinking? I've been hanging around Lukas for too long."

"Hanging around who now?" a voice asks causing Emil to jump from his spot.

"Gh!" he gasps and gets a hold of himself. "What the—?" The first thing he sees is a person wearing a hoodie in the shape of a panda, a black and white bear that went extinct after years of habitat destruction but still a popular icon among the youth. There are two large black eyes and two round black ears that physically stick out from the hood like a mascot. However, when he looks closer, he can recognize the confident smirk and the stylized side bangs of his supposed friend. Sure enough, as the person tilts his head up to meet his eyes, his amber irises sparkle in the fluorescent lights of the blue station.

"Yo," he grins. "Did I keep you waiting for too long?"

Emil's face falls into a frown when he checks his phone. "More or less. You're almost forty minutes late."

"Sorry," he apologizes, rubbing his neck from inside his hood. "I had to find a way to get here without getting caught." He notices Emil's unconvinced look. "Hey, cut me some slack. It's not easy sneaking out of the sixtieth floor of a hotel in Volt."

Hearing the believability in his tone, Emil realizes he is being too harsh on him for their first get-together and quickly forgives him. "No, it's alright," he says. "I get it." He changes the subject. "So, um, nice jacket."

Leon, in turn, scoffs and flicks back his front bangs. "It's one of my cousin's designs. It's good for this kind of thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he agrees. He would have never known it was Leon Wang underneath the hood if they were not talking together.

"So have you been out here before, Emil?"

This is the first time he has said his name since they met, Emil recalls. It sounds rather foreign coming from someone other than his brother or Mathias.

"You can call me 'Ice,'" he says.

Leon raises one of his thick eyebrows. Despite them being noticeably thick, they oddly fit the rest of his character. "Ice, you said?"

He nods. "It's a nickname I've always used. I'm used to being called that more than my real name."

"Ice," he tests it out. "Huh. That's a pretty cool nickname. Alright, I'll call you that, then. Eh, going back to what I was saying…Oh, yeah. Have you been out here in Retro much?"

"Not really," Emil says. "Only twice, and they were for family reasons."

Leon smirks. "Since when is Retro a place for  _family_  outings?" He grabs onto Emil's sleeve and pulls him along. "Come on, Ice. I'll show you what  _real_ fun is."

Emil can hardly speak as he drags him towards the main streets. Though being a celebrity has its advantages, he hopes it also does not mean having an overinflated ego. Lukas warned him about the kinds of troubles celebrities get into when they become famous. Even a little attention is better than no attention at all.

But, he decides, since he is here, he might as well enjoy himself while he can. And with that, Leon leads him further down the holographic pathways towards the central plaza of the eternal game zone that is the Retro district.

* * *

Yao Wang, the chief executive officer of Wang Studio as well as Leon Wang's legal guardian, is in  _absolute_  disarray. Earlier, Lien, his secretary and distant relative, had to adjourn the board meeting because of a call from the hotel saying his "ungrateful son" was nowhere to be found in the building. He completely went berserk when the news came to him. Due to being unable to function and snapping at the drop of a hat, nothing could get done, and the meeting ended shortly after starting.

"Who does he think he is trying to sneak out like that?!" he yells to no one in particular. Lien is not too far away, but she is keeping a considerable amount of space between them in case he detonates any further. Luckily, she managed to get in touch with Cheng just a few minutes ago. Considering he was conveniently visiting Volt for business, he should be here at any minute. She just hopes he arrives before Yao busts a vein.

Then, to her relief, she hears footsteps coming down the long hall towards the main office. A tall, well-groomed man with spectacles comes walking in with a quick pace to match the urgency of the situation. He briefly speaks with the secretary before giving her permission to leave for the day, and then, taking a deep breath, he slips into Yao's office and assess the scenario. Meanwhile, Yao continues on about how irresponsible of a boy Leon grew up to be. Angry curses of regrets follow his statement before a pair of hands come to rest on his shoulders.

"Uncle? Uncle, calm down. Please. The doctor said you need to watch your blood pressure. What do you think will happen if you let your temper get the better of you?"

"Off!" Yao snaps and tosses his hands away, but as soon as he sees who it is, his face relaxes into a calm composure. "Oh. It's you, Cheng. Did Lien call you?"

"She did," he sighs with a smile. "So I've heard Leon has left the hotel again?"

His uncle lashes out with a curse. "Can you believe that boy? This is the second time this week! The second time! The first time he did this, he missed a photo shoot with Glitter Magazine! And now this!" He violently points to the wall clock. "He has an interview at six! Five minutes away! This is unforgivable! He brings three generations of shame on our family!" He curses again. "How did he become so rebellious, Cheng? Was I not a good father?"

"Now, now, don't start thinking about that at this moment, Uncle," Cheng quickly answers. "I understand Leon can be a bit…difficult at times, but he means well. Don't forget that everything he does is in your image  _for_ your image. Why not let him spread his wings and have some fun every now and then? They say the wild beast runs the most rampant when he is chained and caged."

Yao clicks his tongue. "But Leon is no wild beast; he is my son—or at least, I thought he was—"

"You're letting things get out of hand, Uncle," his nephew cuts in. "Please think on this before you act. Leon has been working so hard for you. He's been doing movies and photo shoots and video after video. Think about all the strain it puts on him. If this gets out of hand, it will only get worse. Don't try to wedge a gap between you two."

To Cheng's relief, he can see his uncle beginning to relax. "Maybe you're right. I have been driving him in a corner lately. I just mean well. If he wants a nice lifestyle in the future, he should try to earn enough to afford it, shouldn't he?"

Cheng smiles and considers his dear cousin's point of view before answering. "You're right about working in the present to ensure a secure future, but if you work too hard now, when will that future ever come?"

"You and your words," Yao exasperatedly sighs and takes out his phone. Cheng notices him dialing Kiku's number and waiting for the line to connect. "Hello? Yes, Kiku, it's me. About Leon's interview…" He hisses through his teeth. "Yes, I know. Just tell them he's sick with the stomach flu or something. Schedule it for another time. Ye—Yes, yes. That's all. Bye."

When he hangs up, he looks back at Cheng. "Well, since tonight's meeting ended early, why don't I treat you out, Cheng? It's been awhile since I've seen you."

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly," he politely refuses with a businesslike smile. Then again, to anyone who knows him well, he is always someone who tries to decline others' free offerings with a polite refusal.

"We're going out, and that's final," Yao insists. "There is a new restaurant that opened down the street, and they're supposed to have good custard tarts 'to die for'—though I'd imagine none will ever be as good as the ones you make."

Cheng chuckles. "You give me too much credit, Uncle."

"Sometimes I don't think I give you enough with the way you get Leon to listen to you. You need to teach me how you do that." He is already heading towards the elevator with his nephew following closely behind. "He never listens to anything I say nowadays. It's like he suddenly grew up and is freeloading off his father."

"That's not it at all," Cheng assures him. "He's at that age where he's trying to find out if stardom is what he wants in life." He lets out a brief sigh as he remembers what his cousin told him over the phone roughly three days ago. "Just give him some time. I'm sure he'll come to know what his responsibilities are."

"I'll think about it over dinner," Yao says and gets into his personalized elevator. There are seven main elevators located within Wang Studio; six of them are for the rest of the employees, and the seventh one, by using a specially coded program on an electronic device, is reserved for family and close-knit employees. Yao and Cheng take this elevator down to the ground floor, moving from the topic of Leon's future and career to what sorts of dishes they plan to order at the new restaurant.

* * *

Emil recognizes the place they are going to. It is the Highway Fairgrounds, an amusement park famous for its high-speed roller coasters and seemingly endless midway. When he came here as a child, his parents watched him and his brother play countless amounts of little games to compete for prizes. One of the prizes he won happened to be a stuffed puffin, a curious black and white bird that has long gone extinct after humans overfished the polar oceans dry. He believes if he looks around in his closet, he will be able to find the puffin stashed alongside many of his other childhood belongings.

Interestingly enough, it appears Leon is leading him exactly towards the places he remembers. The duck bobbing pool is exactly where he remembers it to be, and the block-throwing stall is right next to the bathrooms like before. When they stop, they are in front of a shooting booth where players shoot holograms with an electronic laser gun for a prize.

"A shooting booth?" he questions with a raised eyebrow as his companion takes out what appears to be a previously registered playing card.

"We need to get you something before we go," he says when the game starts up and aims his gun at a computer-generated monster. The first monster bursts into pixelated green bits when he fires his first shot. "Betcha I can mow down the entire horde in a perfect run—no wasted shots."

Emil cannot help chuckling. Pop star or not, it does not mean his skills are as impressive as the special effects in his movies. "Alright. I'll bite."

His previous doubts suddenly vanish with a devious smirk from Leon. His eyes narrow into thin golden slits as he takes aim and fires another shot. Like before, the monster hologram obliterates into electronic smithereens. A wave of monsters pops up, dancing on the screen with childlike animations until Leon blows them away without batting an eyelash.

"Ha! Look at that!" Leon laughs when he continues to hit monster after monster. Emil's eyes wander to the scoreboard keeping track of his shots and monsters killed. Both match up identically: seventeen shots taken and seventeen monsters defeated. That number only continues to climb. Eighteen, nineteen. Twenty. Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty three, twenty-four—

"Last one," Emil hears him smirk right before pulling back on the trigger and letting the last shot fly.

A jingle of old-school bit-style music plays in the background, complimenting the cheap fireworks and blinking "Congratulations!" flashing on the screen. When the song finishes, a prize screen pops up displaying a variety of stuffed toys and various hats. Leon chooses a hat that looks like a black devilish monster with yellow eyes and waits for his prize to pop out of the chute. When it comes out, he starts spinning it on his finger from the inside like a flat top, taunting Emil for losing the bet.

"You lose," he snickers.

Emil groans and presses his lips together. "Okay? What happens now?"

"You've gotta wear this for the entire night," he says and pulls it onto his head. Despite Emil's protests, he continues to stare at him until he calms down—minus the pink color rushing to his cheeks. "Don't get mad. I was going to make you wear it whether I won or not."

"Wh-What are you looking at?" he snaps, upset by the fact that the outcome was going to be the same. "This isn't funny. Just because I lost—"

"You look nice," he smirks tripping up Emil's tongue. "Besides, it's in case there are, like, weird stalkers around. We don't want them knowing what you look like." Without permission, his hand moves to his hair and fingers a strand until Emil slaps him away.

"Quit it!" he growls, though the threat is no more intimidating than that of an angry kitten.

"Cute," he chuckles earning yet another rush of blood to Emil's cheeks and even more hot fumes of air flaring from his nostrils. "I still can't believe that's your natural color. You ever think about modeling?"

The thought is so absurd that Emil can barely register words. The syllables struggle to toll off his tongue or process in his mind. Lukas will kill him before something like that ever happens. By the time he gets his mouth to work, Leon is already taking him to another area of the part. "W-Wait! You weren't serious about the whole modeling thing, were you?"

Leon then turns to him with a deadpan look, his golden eyes piercing through his sweeping bangs. "And what if I was?"

"I…" He furiously shakes his head. "I would say 'no!' My brother will kill me before he sees me modeling!"

To his frustration, this only makes the pop star laugh. "You sure you're nineteen, Ice?"

"Yes!" he snaps. "In fact, I found out I'm two weeks older than you!"

This finally gets a different reaction out of the cocky bastard. "Says who?"

"Your birthday's on July 1st," he says. "Mine's on June 17th. That makes me older than you."

"Oh." He licks his lips and blows some hair out of his eyes. "So it does. But that's fine, too, I suppose."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're moving to our next stop," he tells him without addressing the real context of Emil's question.

Before Emil can throw a protest his way, they are already off to their next destination. "Where are we even going?" he asks in an impatient tone. He wishes he had an idea of where they are even heading before going to those destinations. As they continue walking, he makes the assumption that they are not going to spend the rest of the night in the midway. They must be going to another section of Retro.

"I'm totally starving," Leon suddenly says. "What about you?"

Caught by surprise, Emil bashfully lowers his head to the ground. He does not have to worry about which direction they are traveling in since Leon is constantly leading the way. Truth be told, he  _is_  just the tiniest bit hungry. It feels like an eternity since he last ate Mathias' bread, and he sees no harm in admitting he wants something to eat.

"Just a bit," he vaguely answers and feels a sharp tug on his arm. "Ngh…! Can you not pull so hard?"

"I'm trying to make sure you don't get lost," Leon innocently replies.

"Yeah, but if you're going to do that, hold onto something other than my sleeve," he snaps. "You're going to tear it."

"Ahh," Leon pronounces with a gleam in his eyes. "I see what you mean. You wanna, like, hold hands with me?"

"No!" he cries a little too loud. He can feel some eyes and ears drawing to him, though it does not take long for the pedestrians' interests to move elsewhere. "You don't have to hold onto me at all. Period. I can follow you."

Leon gives it some thought before finally consenting. "Alright, but if it gets too crowded, I'm taking your sleeve again."

Emil rolls his eyes. "Okay,  _Mother_."

Leon just laughs. All the while, the hat he won for Emil remains concealing his silvery white hair.

* * *

Leon ends up taking Emil to a place with a bright blue neon sign with a minimalist design called "Teal." He tells him all of the restaurants in Retro are named after colors.

"As if I don't know that already," Emil grumbles while passing through the door.

Upon stepping inside, instead of waiting to be seated like the rest of the diners standing in a queuing line, Leon walks up to the maître d' and whispers something into his ear. Moments later, someone escorts them to a separate room far from the main dining area. They take an automated pathway that runs through an underwater tunnel complete with what appears to be a built-in aquarium. Beyond the colorful schools of fish and towering beds of coral, Emil can see the regular diners on the other side of the glass. He wonders how often people get the privilege of going through this tunnel.

His answer is soon given when the end of the tunnel opens up to a large dome-shaped room consisting of a single table with a large round bench surrounded on all sides by placid sharks, nonchalant rays, and clustered, shimmering schools of what appear to be anchovies.

"Are those real?" he wonders aloud, his head craning to the aquatic life forms above after he takes a seat across from Leon.

"Nah," he laughs. "The real ones are probably in some government-reinforced research facility or whatever."

Emil makes a face. "How do you know that?"

"I did a mov—oops. I mean, I 'heard about it' when I was out somewhere in the coast. One of the crew members out there said nowadays, all the big fish are locked up in these huge fisheries because scientists are trying to prevent them from getting overfished in the wild."

"Oh." He looks up again. "But they look like the real things. I've never seen something like this before. The only time I ever see things this stuff is in history shows about nature."

"Yeah, I'm pretty much the same," Leon smiles in a far off way. "My cousin told me that they use, like, a bunch of holograms that can test the currents in the water and bounce lights off the water molecules. That's what tricks our eyes into thinking we're seeing an image much like how all holograms work. Not just that, but the beams of light are supposed to be so small that the machines using them are invisible to the naked eye. Nanotechnology and the like."

Emil is silent as Leon continues on with his explanation. He is surprised to hear how well-learnt this person is despite never seeming to have time to himself. If this is how he spends his spare time—aside from practicing at the shooting gallery and sneaking out—he thinks it will not be too hard to maintain a relationship with him.

"But enough about that," he suddenly says, with a yawn; it is as though the topic bores him. "I wanna know more about you."

His genuine words make his face steam. In the place of a fan, he suspects he should be extremely flattered that Leon Wang wants to know about him. Such an opportunity does not occur on a regular basis. It is, as some people call it, fate.

"Um…" His voice continues to trail off during their conversation. "I don't know...There's not that much to talk about. What do you want to know?"

Leon starts off with, "How's about telling me why you've been hiding under a rock all this time?"

"What?"

"Like, you told me that one day you've never heard about me before. What's up with that?"

Emil shrugs. There is not much to say about how he never heard of him. "I just never bothered learning about those things, I guess," he replies in grumbles; he knows he sounds like a spoiled and shy child, but it is rare for him to speak with anyone other than Lukas and Mathias these days. Considering Leon Wang is the one listening to him makes the experience all the more unnerving. "I don't watch shows that much, and I don't really surf on the net. I just study."

"Wow," Leon stretches out the word in a long syllable. "What a drag." He falls silent when he breezes through the provided menu looking for anything interesting to eat. When he is finished, he signals the waiter over and orders something in a foreign language. He also points to Emil and continues to speak in an unknown tongue until the waiter disappears into the kitchen connected by another tunnel.

Emil is utterly confused when he finishes. "What was that just now?"

"What was what? You don't like what I'm getting?"

Eyebrows creased, Emil looks down at his menu that he has not so much as glanced at when they first came here. To his bewilderment, the entire menu is written with an alien-like script of characters and squiggles.

"You ordered for both of us?" he realizes.

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

"U-Uh…"

"You obviously can't speak Jiang*. Might as well save you the trouble, right?"

"Oh." He studies the characters even further. "This is Jiang? I've never seen it before."

Instead of making a remark, Leon sweeps his hand in a circular gesture to the menu. That is all he needs to do to get the message across. Emil makes a disgruntled noise in his throat that catches Leon's amusement.

"Pfft. You're cute when you get mad."

"Shut up," he grunts.

"So, like, anyway," Leon returns to the conversation as if the fact that Emil did not recognize Jiang ever existed, "why's your nickname 'Ice?'"

Emil immediately sinks into his seat until everything below his eyes are under the table. "Do you really need to know?"

"Why? Is that a problem?"

"Maybe," he vaguely responds.

"If it's funny, I won't laugh."

"Promise?"

"Promise," he insists.

"Nope. I don't trust you."

Instead of dropping it, Leon suddenly scoots over to where Emil is sitting and boldly reaches for his phone that is wedged into his back pocket. Of course, the inconsiderate move causes him to yelp and spring up from his seat, crashing his knees into the bottom of the table and nearly knocking over their glasses of water.

"What the heck?!" he yells when Leon takes his phone out. "What's your problem?! And—! Give me back my phone!" All the while as he is unsuccessfully trying to retrieve his phone, Leon's attention is glued onto the screen. Somewhere in the middle of the struggle, he takes out his own phone and punches buttons with incredible dexterity. Angry at how smug he is getting, Emil launches himself at Leon like a cat might a mouse and tackles him onto his back.

"Give me that!" he snaps and snatches back his phone with Leon wearing an irritable smirk on his lips. With his phone safely back in his hands, he clicks the screen on and rummages through his applications for any signs of malware. "What did you do?"

"Just a little something," Leon answers in a mockingly innocent voice.

"Liar," he snarls. "You did something big, didn't you?"

"Who knows?" His inability to give a shit starts to take its toll on Emil. Finally, after searching through his phone's history, he sees that Leon somehow managed to crack into his credit account. His heart nearly skips a beat when he sees a transaction was made during their struggle, expecting his account to be completely empty. However, when he sees the numbers, instead of red numbers signifying a loss in his savings, he sees green numbers— _large_ green numbers.

"What the...?" His hands are shaking. He has never seen such a high number in his statements before. There are more zeros than there should be. Just what did Leon do?

Leon, catching the stunned expression on his face, moves over and slings his arm around his shoulders. "You still mad at me?" he grins.

"You…" It is not just Emil's hands that are shaking. His voice beings to shake as well. "You p-put one hundred…"

"A hundred thousand heta**," he finishes for him without faltering or blinking an eye. "Just think of that as a little gift for me. But…!" In a crude gesture, he places a finger in the middle of Emil's forehead. If it was not because he was so stunned, he might have actually considered snapping his teeth at him. "…Because of how nice I was to you, you have to be nice to me, now."

"Wha…?" Emil's mouth is so dry he can hardly speak.

"You owe me a story… _Ice._ "

Realizing there is no way to worm his way out of this one, he lets out a deep sigh and repositions himself on the plush bench. "Fine. But you promised you wouldn't laugh."

"I sure did," he says.

Emil brings one knee to his chest and looks at his phone. While telling his story, he notices how many missed calls he has from Lukas. His phone must still be on silent from commuting to his college classes.

"When I was little, my parents would always buy me ice cream if I sang this little song I made up." He catches an anticipating look in Leon's eyes. "I am  _not_  going to sing it for you."

"Come on," he whines disturbingly out of character. "I gave you a hundred thousand heta, Ice."

"No," he refuses, but there is little he can say in defense. Money does make the world go round. "Rrggh. You promised—"

"I won't laugh," Leon cuts him off. "I promise."

Emil exhales and holds his breath. He cannot even remember the last time he sang the ice cream song. Considering it was when he was still a child, it must have been several years ago. Even so, the words and melody come back to him as though it were only yesterday.

"Ice…" he begins, but he quickly shakes his head and yanks his hat over his eyes. "I can't do it. I can't. You're going to laugh. I know you will."

"No, no. Come on, Ice," Leon stops him. "Look at my face. Do I look like I'm going to laugh?"

Sure enough, when Emil looks at him, his face is solemn like he just came back from a funeral. The critiques about his acting skills certainly do not lie.

"Fine," he sighs and starts over. The entire time, his head is dizzy with suppressed oxygen and a spike in his heart rate. It is as though he will burst from the inside out due to embarrassment, but Leon is still waiting for him to sing the song.

"Okay," he breathes. "Here I go:

_Ice cream, 'sicles, gum drops, too._

_Here is what I bought for you:_

_A treat so cold, your tongue turns blue…_

_B-BecauseIloveyoumyhunkypoo!_ "

Leon's face is a blank slate when he finishes the song, much to Emil's amazement. Part of him wants to believe he is able to keep his emotions in check, but another part of him believes he is only staring off into space because he is trying to decipher the last line. Sure enough…

"Wait. What was that last line?"

Emil is pulling on his hat so hard that the cheap stitching is threatening to tear at the seams. "Please don't make me say it again."

"One hundred thousand heta~"

"Gah! Because I love you my…my hunky poo!"

It is then that Leon cracks. It begins with a simple blink, something one might register as trying to moisturize one's eyeballs, but in his case, it is only the beginning. He can feel an unusual sensation in his lips, like little fingers yanking on the corners of his mouth or fishhooks landing a catch. The lines pull, and for a fraction of a second, he nearly gives in. But he promised. He told Emil he would not laugh. So, with every fiber in his body, he restrains himself and recalls every possible bad thing in his memories: his family, his job, the pressure…

But he fails to cover up the bubble of gas rising to the surface. His diaphragm suppressed, his lungs at minimum capacity, he traps it just up to his throat before it escapes. Unfortunately, the sheer look of horror and genuine embarrassment on Emil's face snaps the final thread in his mental stability, and he releases—

_Smack!_

His last resort. He slaps his palm over his mouth. It is all he can do now to prevent himself from uttering a sound. However, Emil sees that he is failing to keep his promise.

"I knew it!" he bursts out, his once fair skin now flushed a crimson pink hue. "You idiot! I knew you would laugh!"

Leon is dying. He is on the brink of passing out from his lack of oxygen. Little hiccups of air pop in and out through his nostrils in a futile attempt to escape. He will not have any of it. He has to keep his promise.

Emil suddenly stops when he sees the amount of stress the poor guy is going through in order to hold it on. His face is turning dark red, and his golden eyes are glistening with what look like tears. Even his nose is starting to run. With his cheeks also puffing from struggling to breath, Emil thinks he looks like a puffy-eyed goldfish suffering from an asthma attack.

"Hnnh…Heh heh. Ha ha ha. Ah ha ha ha!"

When their food arrives, they are still laughing, tears streaming from their eyes and jaws aching. Emil has never laughed so hard before. For the first time in his life, he feels alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"Jiang" is the Chinese word for "talk." It is a fictional language in this story.
> 
> **Currency in this AU. The value is roughly equivalent to today's USD to fit the bulk demographics of my readers.


	4. IV

Dinner consisted of roasted duck skin with white rice, steamed dumplings with seasoned soy sauce, plates of fried noodles, and sticky rice and peanuts and meats wrapped with banana leaves. Emil cannot remember the last time he has seen so many different kinds of foods, let alone any type of Jiang cuisine. The most he usually eats at home is a light meal of fish, potatoes, and bread on the side; the vegetables change day by day. Leon told him it was only a light snack before continuing on with the rest of their night, but Emil quickly filled his stomach to the point of collapsing. From there, every bite he attempted to take became forced; the satisfactory level dropped to zero until he refused to pick up his fork.

Leon finally takes notices of his gradual decline in eating speed when dessert comes to the cleared table. "You feeling okay?" he asks. There is a glass in his hand, and from the bottle he brought earlier, Emil suspects it is some form of alcohol. The drinking age in this country is at eighteen years of age, and while Mathias cannot be happier to have a different drinking partner, Lukas refuses to let Emil taste alcohol until he turns twenty-one.

"I can't eat another bite," Emil groans, his mouth twitching at the sides like he is ready to vomit. Perhaps it was the duck, he thinks.

"No one's forcing you," Leon casually says.

Emil furrows his eyebrows. "Then why'd you make a big deal out of eating so much, yourself?"

"I just know how to eat," he laughs it off. Emil wishes he can eat anything without having to worry about his appearance, though he suspects Leon has an intense workout routine to keep his body metabolizing at its high rate.

Stomach issues aside, Leon asks Emil if he wants to try some of the light orange gelatinous treat.

"What is it?" he asks, wrinkling his nose.

"Mango pudding. It's good. You should try it. Man, what do they feed you at home, Ice?"

"Not this, that's for sure," he frowns and gingerly takes a small spoonful; it is all his stomach can manage at this point. When it passes through his mouth, he can taste the subtle milky texture of the pudding melting on his tongue. The pudding is not too sweet nor is it too light. He has never tried mango before, but he suspects this restaurant has accuracy with its culinary abilities.

Noticing his relaxed eyes and lack of grimacing from earlier, Leon cracks a smile. "It's good, right?"

"Mm-hmm," he nods, but he does not take another helping in case he gets sick later. While he is waiting for Leon to finish, his phone vibrates in the seat of his back pocket; he turned it to its vibration mode earlier in case someone wants to contact him.

Leon looks up from his spoon. "Someone calling?"

"Yeah…" he sighs and sees it is none other than Lukas. "I have to take this call." He looks around for somewhere private to talk, but there is only the isolated dome and a small tunnel leading outside. It is actually better for him to take the call right where he is standing. "Sorry," he quickly apologizes and answers the phone. "Hello? Lukas?" His blood runs cold when he hears the soft voice speaking like a creeping shadow into his ear.

"This is the  _seventeenth_ time I've tried to get ahold of you," he breathes into the phone. "Where  _are_ you, Emil Steilsson."

"Uh-oh," Emil silently mouths. His brother only uses his full name when he is absolutely furious. Unlike most people, however, when his brother gets angry, he seethes like a hissing kettle under pressure, quite the opposite of downright exploding like a bombshell. "Um…" He looks over at Leon who is finished eating at this point. The waiter already presented him with the bill earlier. All there is to do now is to wait for Emil to finish before they can leave. "…I just got done eating."

"Where?" his brother inquires.

"Teal," he answers.

" _Teal?_ " Lukas echoes it in such a manner that the name is something gross. "That's supposed to be an extension of a bar. What are you doing there?"

Realizing his brother's suspicions are getting out of hand, Emil quickly assures him. "We're just eating! Honest! It's a really nice place, too. I can take some pictures if you'd like—"

"No photographs, please," the waiter from afar tells him. "It disrupts the nanos."

"Oh." Emil is crestfallen. "Sorry. The waiter said I can't take pictures because it messes with the nanocameras."

"Forget that. Don't you have homework to do? It's almost eight, little brother. I need to leave for work early tomorrow, which means I have to sleep early. You're not going to make me stay up waiting for you, are you?"

He scrunches his face. "You don't have to wait for me to come home. I'll be back. Promise." He pauses to scratch his forehead. Having the hat on proves to be distractingly stuffy. "I don't know what we're going to be doing, but I think we're almost finished up here."

His brother lets out a long sigh over the phone and falls silent. After his tongue clicks, he finally says, "Alright. I'll give you until nine thirty to come back, but that's final."

"Nine thirty?" Emil starts. "But that's barely enough time to—!"

"Nine thirty," he repeats. "That's final."

He opens his mouth to protest, but the call disconnects. His brother hung up.

Cursing, he falls back down on the bench and buries his face into his hands. "My brother's such a jerk…"

Leon laughs. "You think that's bad? You don't know my old man."

Emil looks up from his hands and blinks. "You mean Ya—?" But he clamps his mouth shut in case the waiter gets suspicious. Now that he thinks about it, he wonders why none of the waiting staff is reacting. If he paid using credit, they should know his name, should they not?

However, Leon cuts him off when he replies to his question. "The very guy." He gazes off into the distance. "He's the reason why I'm stuck in this business. It's not bad, but…it gets boring after a while, you know?"

Emil cannot lie and pretend he empathizes with him. "I don't know. The only problem I have is my brother always worrying about me, but that's about it. How do you do it, then?"

"Do what?"

"Just…handling all the pressure and calls. Even when you're here, you still have to worry about someone, right?"

All of a sudden, Leon scoots next to him and pulls out his phone with a childlike smile beaming on his face. It is rather uncomfortable the way he gets so close without a second's thought.

"Wanna see a magic trick, Ice?" he asks, his smile still stuck in place.

"Huh?" He is confused but curious, nevertheless. "What kind?"

"I can make all my problems go away whenever I want to. Wanna see how?"

"Uh…" He decides to go along with it. "Sure."

"Watch." Then, Leon clicks on his phone, holds down the lock screen button, and waits as the phone starts to power off. After that, he holds the blank phone out to Emil. "See? All gone. Now I don't have to worry about my family tracking me or about anyone calling me. It's that easy."

Emil is at a loss for words.

"Are you ready to go?"

He only nods. This time, instead of pulling on his sleeve, Leon takes his hand and leaves through the same tunnel they entered.

When they make it outside, the entire sky is flooded with assorted lights and strobes floating on signs or flashing on stylized outfits. It is hard to imagine that Retro is only a little flicker compared to the spotlight that is Neon, the district of gambling and the adults' paradise. Here, posters hover on holograms lazily passing through the alleys advertising food, websites, and even movies. Some of the movies that flash by Emil's eyes expose a large picture of none other than the person leading him down Retro.

"Hey," he calls to the front, "where are we going?"

"Somewhere far away," he vaguely answers and continues to walk. He eventually leads Emil to a familiar place, Antenna Tower, one of Holo's tallest infrastructures. He came here with his family back when he was but a small child; when he and his family rode up the elevator, he found the lights to be like a sea of tasty sugar stars, something that made his brother laugh.

There is a line of people waiting to go up and into the tower; however, like at Teal, Leon casually strolls up to the vendor in the front, exchanges a few words, and waits about a minute before someone escorts them to the other side of the tower.

"What's going on?" Emil asks.

"We're going to take the back door up," Leon grins. Sure enough, the person escorting them shows them to another elevator, only this one is significantly fancier than the one Emil took as a child. There are clean glass doors on three sides, and sleek faux leather seats for sitting on during the ride. With an odd feeling, Emil cautiously steps into the elevator with Leon and settles in a seat when the elevator doors shut.

Suddenly, his stomach sinks to the ground when the floor gives way. The ground floor vanishes with the elevator's ascent. The safety stairs in the middle fly past his eyes. All the while, the sea of diamonds returns to him. The sinking feeling in his stomach soon goes away, enough so that he can manage to face the glass and look down at Retro below. It looks like a glowing ocean at this height, he thinks. He feels on top of the world again.

"This isn't too bad," Leon's voice barely reaches him.

Emil agrees. "It's beautiful." His trance is cut short when his companion snickers.

"No, I wasn't talking about the view," he chuckles. "I meant us."

From the corner of Emil's eyes, he can sense Leon looking straight at him. Eyebrows poised, he gives him a glance. "And what about us?"

Leon lets out a heavy sigh and lies on his back. Something flashes in his hand against the dim lighting. When Emil looks closer, he recognizes the flat, round shape of his crystal-engraved pocket watch. Even he keeps it with him after its countdown stopped.

"I thought it was weird how you weren't a fan of mine. Like, I was expecting someone who'd just know all about me and worshipped me or something."

Emil makes a face. "That wouldn't be any better than having a god pairing up with his believer."

"Don't know about that, but I like things how it is now," the celebrity smirks with his usual expression. "Maybe I'm tired of people knowing me because of what they see. The people who know the real me can't give a shit—Ah. No, I shouldn't say that. There's one guy."

"Who?"

"My cousin," he smiles. This time, his smile is different; it has a warm serenity to it that captures Emil's attention. "He's the only one I've told about you. He also knows about our watches stopping. I'll definitely introduce you to him one day. He's really cool."

In Emil's head, he is picturing someone around his age with the same contemptuous smirk on his face. He expects him to be someone who dresses like a fashionable trendsetter or an outgoing social butterfly; those are the only types of people he suspects appeal to Leon's tastes. He must be loaded with heta, too.

Suddenly, Leon starts to laugh. "Would you find it weird if I, like, told you I don't have too many friends, myself?"

"Uh…" He does not know how to respond. He always thought Leon would be someone with several friends since he knows how to talk and get around without anyone's help. Plus he is a celebrity. What sort of celebrity does not have any friends? This must be one of the downsides to being popular. He is constantly trying to appease to so many people that he does not have time to appease to anyone close to him. In such a way, Emil feels like he is the opposite; all his life he appeased only to himself after believing there would be someone to complete his life. No one else would have to matter. Leon must have felt just as awful when he saw who his significant other was supposed to be. The bonds they might share as friends will never surmount to what they would have felt in an intimate relationship between soul mates.

"I don't think it's weird," Emil says. Leon blinks. "If I was the same, I think I'd be so caught up with everything around me that I'd forget about the ones important to me." He thinks back to his brother who is nearly the same as him. His case with his other is different, but not on such a level that they cannot relate. They are all stuck in funny cases. It would almost be amusing if it were not so depressing.

Emil looks over at Leon who is staring intently at him. His heartbeat quickens, and his eyelids flutter when those golden eyes look at him. He does not feel worthy of his attention. He is a nobody. Leon is a famous international celebrity.

"What's up?" Leon suddenly catches him by surprise.

Blushing, Emil curls his knees into his chest. "I-It's not weird if I say I'm glad we met, is it?"

His friend continues to stare, only this time, there is a different kind of look in his eyes, one that loses Emil in their mystifying amber pools. They gaze into each other's irises for a considerable amount of time before the soft  _ding_  of the elevator chime signals they have reached the top.

"We're here," Leon says and gets to his feet. He goes first and guides Emil to the edge. While walking, Emil notices that the entire place is empty. As if reading his mind, Leon tells him, "There's a separate floor connecting to the elevator we took. The public one is one floor below us, if you can believe that."

Emil breathes when he comes to the edge. Though the tower is completely secure, he cannot shake the sinking feeling in his stomach from when the elevator first started its ascent. It must be a long way to the bottom.

"How do you know about these things?" he asks. "You knew about Teal having a private room and Antenna Tower having an extra floor. Where do you get the time to find about this stuff?"

"Oh, that? It's just from when my old man and my cousin would take me places—mostly my cousin, though. My old man never had time for me." He shifts the focus of the conversation to Emil. "What about you? Seems like you've been here before."

Emil nods, his eyes fixed on the streets. He can see the Lightning and Bolt Rails from here. They continue to expand out into a circle around Holo.

"I came here during the one time we were here as a family," he tells him.

"Oh." Leon tosses his bangs to the side. "You said you have a brother, right?"

He nods. "Older. His name is Lukas." At the mention of his name, he wonders if it was a good idea to shut off his phone back at the restaurant. "My brother is something of a…Let's just say he's the overprotective type."

Leon's eyebrows arch. "Really?" His tone is flat, but it does not conceal his surprise. "I'm surprised he even allowed you to come here. And you told me you told him about us?"

"Yep. He—" Emil quickly checks his phone for the time only to see that the screen is black. He curses. "What time is it?"

"Why should it matter?"

"I'm supposed to be home at nine thirty."

His companion raises an eyebrow. "From the conversation I overheard, I thought you weren't going to listen to your brother."

"Yeah, but I…" He sighs. "I have school tomorrow. Lukas also has work. I know him. He won't go to sleep until I come home. I'm guessing if I don't come back around ten, he'll even call the police."

"Yeesh. You weren't kidding about the overprotective thing," Leon grimaces. "Does he have a…?"

"A watch?" Emil guesses. Leon nods. "Yeah. His numbers hit their zeros a long time ago. I think he was ten when it happened."

Leon's eyes grow as wide as eggs, and his jaw drops open. "Whoa,  _ten?_ What kind of broad did he get hooked up with to stay so clingy with you?"

"Th-That's the thing…He's sort of a special case." Emil presses his lips together. "I think it would be better if I just introduced you to them one day. That's fine, isn't it?"

"Visiting your brother, his soul mate,  _and_ your parents?" Leon laughs. "That's, like, kind of a lot to take in for one visit doncha think?" He abruptly stops when Emil looks away with a painful expression. His eyes have lost their light. When he manages to speak, it is as if it hurts just to speak.

"You won't be meeting my parents," he quietly murmurs. "My parents died eight years ago."

Leon freezes. For someone who never knew his biological parents, he cannot bring himself to relate on an intimate level. All he can do is quietly apologize and offer his condolences.

"No, it's fine," Emil forces a trembling smile. "It's not like it was your fault. I just thought I should tell you before, well, the timing gets bad."

"Still…" He runs his hand through his bangs and lets out a wistful sigh. "That's pretty deep. I'm sure you know this, but I never knew who my real parents were." He scoffs. "They're probably rolling in their graves for seeing what kind of guy their son turned out to be, a singing an' acting sensation. Eye candy to the masses but completely invisible with a panda hoodie."

Somehow, that strikes Emil as funny, and he cracks a smile.

Leon returns the smile and opens his mouth to say something when a pop song blasts out of nowhere. Both of them flinch at the sudden spike in the noise level, and Emil curses.

"I thought you turned your phone off!" he yelps.

"My bad," Leon sheepishly grimaces. "I have a spare only for emergencies. This one I've gotta take. Hold on." He pulls out his extra phone and answers it without so much as glancing at the name of his contact. "Yo, what's up?"

Unknown to Emil's ears, it is none other than Leon's cousin, Cheng Wang, on the phone. His tone is always polite, though anyone who knows him well can hear the urgency in his voice.

"Leon, where are you right now?" he asks. "Yao has been very worried about you. Kiku had to reschedule everything because you weren't answering his calls."

"Oops." Leon sticks his tongue out. "I'm out with Ice right now."

A pause. "Ice?" Cheng repeats.

"Shit, I meant Emil. Ice is his nickname."

He can picture his cousin giving him a blank stare with a smile stuck like place like someone stitched the corners of his lips. "That's nice, Leon, but in all seriousness, I think you should go back to your hotel. The doctors said Yao has to watch his blood pressure, but there's only so much he can do when he doesn't know how to contact you."

Leon makes a raspberry sound. "It's his fault he's not getting with the times. I knew how to hack his bank account before he knew how to use a brace—Ugh, never mind. Fine. I'll come back. Just need to do some things real quick."

"Please don't be too long, Leon. I'm really sorry. I know this is important to you."

"No, I'm the asshole here," he insists. Cheng makes it difficult to get angry. "I'll call you when I'm done, okay?"

"That would be nice. Thank you, Leon. And…try not to use that kind of language."

"Sorry," he chuckles. "I'll try. Bye, then."

"Goodbye, Leon."

When he hangs up, he debriefs the situation to Emil. "That was my cousin just now. He said my old man's going nuts because I snuck out."

"Oh," Emil responds.

Leon does not look too thrilled about the situation. "Seems like both our families want us home, huh?" Emil nods. "I wanted to show you some other places, but you're right about it being a school night. This place isn't half as crowded as it should be. Kind of a waste when it's not as happening."

Emil cannot bring himself to fathom how Retro should look during its peak busy days. It already feels so congested.

"Mm, might as well go back down, then," the disappointed celebrity sighs. "But I had fun. It was nice getting away from hearing my old man's nagging."

"Same for my brother," Emil chuckles. "Thank you for putting up with me, Leon, and…for being my friend."

He gets an interesting reaction out of the young singing and acting sensation. Leon catches himself by covering his mouth with his hand and lowering his head as if he is laughing. Emil thinks he said something wrong until he snaps back to his normal stoic self.

"It's nothing," he smiles and presses the ground floor button on the elevator. While they are making their way down, the two continue to talk about personal bits in their lives.

"What's it like living in Volt?" Emil asks. Volt is the high-end district that can only be accessed through a special registration. The public is welcome to travel to the stations located throughout Volt, but they are forbidden from passing over the fences separating privileged from the mundane. The only instances where ordinary civilians are allowed to pass through Volt are if local residents previously register their names under their own.

"It's just what it is," Leon shrugs. "People like you and me. They just wear expensive cloths and talk like hot shots. They're really not, though. Here's a little secret: most of them just sit on their fat asses all day and shit their mouths."

Emil chuckles.

"So what about you?" he asks him in turn. "Where do you live? Not Retro, obviously."

"I live in Circuit. It's not too far from Circuit University."

Leon raises his eyebrows with a smug look. "Oh, so you're a bookworm type. That explains the hiding under the rock thing."

Emil scowls. "I'm not a bookworm, and I'm trying to study hard because there's no other way to support myself." He lets out a deep breath and folds his hands over his lap. "My brother is currently working as a pharmaceutical assistant. He's not making much right now, but once he gets his license, he can start working in his own clinic to support us. It's tough right now because, well, my parents died right after my brother was legally old enough to take care of me. Because of that, we really didn't get any financial support from the government. I'm studying medicine, too, if you were wondering. It's hard, but if we both manage to pull through, we won't have to worry about bumps down the road. Scholarships and grants help, too."

"Sounds tough," Leon comments. "You know, if you really want—"

"I'm not taking your money," Emil quickly refuses. "It's wrong." He feels guilty considering he now has one hundred thousand extra heta in his credit account, but he considers that a decent payment for making a complete fool out of himself.

"Ice, a hundred thousand here and there is, like, nothing to me. We're supposed to be friends, right? Friends stick out for each other."

Emil bites his lower lip. "Then what am I supposed to do for you?"

Leon falls silent for a moment. He sees Emil as a modest type, the kind that prefers not to trouble others too much just like Cheng. However, where Cheng understands the concepts of compensation where due, Emil devotes himself to putting others first. He suspects he picked it up from his brother. During his thought process, Leon's mind wanders back to his light-hearted proposition he made earlier. It is a long shot, but he is never one to back down from trying whatever he can to get what he wants. This will be no exception to his tendencies.

"Can I change your mind about the modeling thing?" he brings up. He watches intently as his friend's flawless lilac eyes rapidly blink in flustered succession. The color rises to his cheeks, and he notices his fingers curling over one another like nervous worms. So he is still unsure of the proposition. That is a good thing. It means his mind is not completely set on declining.

"Y-You can't just expect me to model," he stutters with a quiet voice. Unlike his fans who try to woo him with nasal-droned and high-pitched squeals, Leon finds Emil's bashful voice to be rather cute and innocent; he thinks it is also due to the fact that Emil sees him more as a human being instead of a media icon.

"I can," Leon says. "I can hook you up with a professional photographer. My old man runs a large portion of the modeling industry in Eliatha*, too, you know. Plus the pay is good. You won't even have to do it every day, maybe, like, even only three times a month."

Emil shakes his head. Leon does not see this as a sign of defeat; he sees this as a challenge. Of course, he knows he will win him over. He always wins.

"You said it yourself: your brother's working his ass off for you," he continues. "If you don't want to feel guilty about always relying on him, this can be, like, your first real step to becoming an adult."

"But…" Leon watches in amusement as Emil pulls his hat to conceal his eyes. "I'm…I'm not very…photogenic."

How cute. "Are you kidding, Ice? You don't need to always be, like, smiling for the camera and all that. The professionals know how to take a model's personality and amplify that to make it really standout-ish."

" _Standout-ish…?_ " Emil echoes under his breath. "But I'm not even that good-looking."

Leon scoffs and gives his friend's forehead a flick. While Emil is recovering from his blatant rudeness, he continues to speak. "Ice, if I think you're not half bad, then by the public's standards, you're a godsend."

Emil only narrows his eyes and pulls his lips into a frown. "So what does that make you?"

"Too fabulous for words," he half-heartedly jokes. "Come on. Please?"

"No," he refuses. The elevator has since reached the ground floor. Even as they walk to the Lightning Rail, Leon is trying to convince him to consider modeling to no avail. He is modest, but he is also a little stubborn for his own good. Leon will have to change that.

"No means no!" Emil snaps when they reach the blue station. "I don't even know what I'd be modeling for!"

"Just fashion magazines and stuff," Leon casually answers. "Can't you at least think about it?"

"No," he says. The train back to Circuit arrives first. Emil quickly heads over to the cart, swipes his pass, and hops onto the escalator.

"I'll call you," Leon tells him before his is out of hearing range. Emil does not give him a reply even when the doors close shut and the line zips away.

"Okay," he sneers when he is left to wait for the other line to arrive. When the line headed to Volt arrives, he boards the cart and sits far from the weary passengers. Then, he turns on his main phone and sees the mail icon exploding with over a hundred messages.

"Probably just some stupid spam," he sighs and starts to delete them one by one. After clearing out his inbox, he decides to do a little searching into Emil Steilsson's student registry at Circuit University. Hacking into his bank account was easy enough, and if that was the case, he thinks doing a little fiddling with a school's database should be a walk in the park.

* * *

Emil arrived back at his house at nine twenty, a decent amount of time before his brother's countdown meter dried up. Because of that, he got away without having to go into details about his night with Leon. He did not tell Lukas about the modeling job offer.

The next day, Emil attends school as any other day. The events of last night are put aside as he heads off through his school gates and attends his math lecture. However, he gets a strange feeling from over his shoulder as though someone is watching him from behind. Curious, he turns his neck and checks. To his relief, he does not see Leon. Then again, it should be impossible for Leon to sneak into the school. First of all, he needs a registered student identification. Second, he has to know Emil's exact schedule. Third, he will get torn apart by fans if he shows his face in plain daylight.

To his credit, however, Leon is more tactful and resourceful than Emil imagines him to be. Instead of personally dropping by the university, someone else is in his place—two people, in fact. After his lecture ends, Emil makes his way to the library. There is a comfortable two-hour gap between his math lecture and his chemistry lab so he uses the slot of time for catching up on his studies. However, just as the library comes into view, two mysterious people wearing spiffy business attire—a man with dark brown spiky hair stylized to oddly resemble Mathias' and a woman with a lighter shade of brown hair tied in a sweeping ponytail—block him from advancing any further.

"Um…" He swallows when he gives them a good look. Neither of them looks visibly buff, but they give off an aura of absolute dominance. He cannot read their eyes as they are wearing sunglasses that hide any giveaway expressions. When he tries to move around them, they follow his steps and block his path. Emil quickly looks at his surrounds. None of the students are looking at him; they are either preoccupied with their phones or talking with someone, not that he expects them to give a damn.

"Er," he clumsily starts," can I help you?"

The woman adjusts her sunglasses and proceeds to speak. "Emil Steilsson, I presume?"

"Y-Yes?" he stammers.

"We would like you to come with us," she says. "Leon requested that we pick you up and prepare you for your appointment by noon sharp."

He steps back. "What? This is crazy! Who the—? How'd you even get in here?"

"Don't make this difficult for us all, Emil," the woman says. "We are running late. We will provide you with an explanation shortly."

Emil does not waste any more time with these two. The very look of them sends shivers down his spine even when he thinks he is meters away. He heads in the direction of the science building, but before he can reach the doors, something latches onto both of his arms and hoists him into the air like a forklift to a box.

"Put me down!" he cries and tries to kick back, but the mysterious duo is having none of it. When he looks back, he sees the one holding him is the dark-skinned Mathias look-alike.

"Leon didn't say anything about him trying to run," the man tells the woman with a light chuckle. Emil is wondering how they can even find something like this amusing. This is no better than a kidnapping in broad daylight.

The woman sighs and folds her slender arms around her waist. "He did say he was snappy. Let's take him to the car. Oh, and another thing." She tilts her head up to Emil. "Don't try to make a scene. You're going to raise questions, and questions lead to publicity. Leon doesn't need any of that right now."

"If anyone's trying to make a scene, it's you two!" Emil grunts as he tries to wriggle his arms free without success.

The suited duo somehow manages to take Emil out of the university and all the way to the underground parking lot. None of this makes any sense to him. There are cameras all around the university in case of a mishap. How did no one call security on them when he was clearly taken from the school grounds, he wonders?

Questioning aside, he is thrown into the backseat of a shiny black vehicle while the other two take their seats in the front. Much to his annoyance, there is a black window separating the back seat from the front of the vehicle so he cannot directly pinpoint where they might be headed. To make things worse, the doors lock when he makes a move for them. He is trapped. Whether Leon is somehow responsible or not, this is definitely considered a kidnapping.

"Where are you taking me?!" he shouts from the back and pounds on the black-tinted window. The nerve of them! He cannot even find seat belts in the back!

The only answer he gets comes in the form of muffled voices. Realizing it is pointless to escape by physical means, he tries to see if he can contact the police. But when he checks his phone, a call immediately comes his way. The number is unknown, but he has a sinking feeling that he knows who it is. With a heavy heart and a swelling headache, he hits the "Answer" button and slowly holds up the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he answers.

The voice is the one he suspects to hear, the arrogant, spoiled, golden voice of a celebrity who goes too far to get what he wants.

"Hi, Ice. How was school?"

Emil makes a mental reminder to himself to ask for Leon's number after he lands a good hit on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Anagram of "Hetalia." It's a fictitious country/universe I tend to use in my stories.


	5. V

The car ride takes Emil through Circuit and somewhere past what he thinks is Wire, but he cannot be too sure. He remembers there being several electronic signs constructed along the tall glass buildings and a large gate enforced with coils and thin-filmed carbon chains. There is a moment where the driver—the woman, specifically—rolls down her window and sticks her hand out. The windows are heavily tinted, but Emil thinks he sees her scanning a code on her phone; afterwards, the gate opens, and the vehicle drive through. From there, everything changes: gone are the local suburbs and pedestrians walking on foot; there is not a single piece of trash to be seen on the pathways; the buildings are sparkling with energy and reflected sunlight; and every single store on both sides displays high-end brand names and fashion styles Emil only recognizes the elite to wear. He must be in Volt.

His assumptions are later confirmed when the car drives into a garage through an elevated life system. Older areas around Circuit and Wire still have mechanized lifts, but in wealthier places like Neon and Volt, high-energy magnetism and electricity are used to power the lifts. The elevator takes them high above the ground floor at least by thirty floors, Emil thinks. All the while, his head is spinning with questions and muddled emotions.

Earlier when he talked with Leon over the phone, he mentioned something about bringing his fame face to the show—whatever that meant. Emil, angered by the fact that he was being held against his will, tried to contact the police as well as his brother; however, to his unsettling surprise, his phone no longer functioned. Leon must have done something to his phone back when he hacked into his bank account. He wonders how he was able to do something so skillfully in such a short period of time; he thought those stunts were only reserved for movies and games. Nevertheless, Leon has him on a leash. There is nothing he can do until the car comes to a stop.

Sure enough, the vehicle soon halts at the edge of the circular elevated garage. Emil hears the two people get out of the car and open one door for him. A small voice in his head screams at him to push one of them out of the way and make a run for it, but he cannot think of where to run. He is in Volt. By technical terms, he is not even supposed to be here. Leon must have registered his name as a guest to gain access beyond the gates. It really sets his blood rushing thinking about how easy it is to push him around just because of his phone.

The woman, who is on Emil's left, urges him to get out. "We have to go, Emil," she says. "Leon is waiting for you. It's urgent that you meet with him as soon as possible. Time is short, and time is money."

"To you guys," Emil grumbles and reluctantly gets out. Despite his feelings of trepidation, he shuts his mouth, gets in line between his two captors, and allows them to escort him to wherever their destination lies.

None of them say anything while they move from an elevator, to a long hall, up a set of escalators, through another elevator, and down yet another hall to an ordinary-looking door. Once they reach this location, the man and woman gesture for Emil to enter on his own.

Swallowing a sticky glob lodged in his throat, he nervously fingers the doorknob before slowly turning it and pushing it open just a crack. He barely manages to do that before the door suddenly swings open with his hand still gripping on, and it pulls him—hand, body, and all—all the way inside the unlabeled room. He lets out a small cry when he flies forward and nearly hits the floor when someone catches him by the waist. Granted, all the air flies out of his stomach, but at least someone saved him from the embarrassment of face-planting on the ground. And without any startling revealers, the person who saved him is none other than Leon Wang.

"You're a little later than I thought you'd be," he smirks without even bothering to greet him. Emil pushes him away and gathers himself together. His hair contains disrupted tufts and curls from his struggle. His clothes are inappropriately worn in comparison to the rest of the people standing around; they are dressed in all black like they are attending the funeral of someone who prefers a send-off in style. The women are wearing shoulder-less sweaters with tight pencil skirts complete with complimenting dark stockings and thick platform shoes. Emil is baffled at how they can even walk in such a restrained look. The men, on the other hand, are wearing high-collared sweaters with tight pants hugging their thighs to their ankles. They are also wearing all black. Emil thinks they fare no better than the women.

"Can you explain what the heck this all is?" Emil growls. "Thanks to you, I missed my chem lab. You'd better have a good explanation, Leon." He can hear the soft murmuring of the people in black, but he is too upset to bother with their opinions in the heat of the moment. "And what did you do to my phone? My service doesn't work anymore, and I was able to get into Volt without any invitation or registration."

To his further annoyance, Leon waves his fingers in the air with his smirk still tugging at the corner of his lips. "It's just a little skill, Ice. Nothing a celebrity can't pull off."

Emil curses and tears his head away. Behind him, the door is blocked by a handful of people in black setting up what appear to be spotlights. The people who drove him here are nowhere to be seen. Either they took off or they are waiting outside in case he tries to make a run for it.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"They're setting up now that they know what you look like," Leon explains.

Emil does not like the sound of this. "What I look like?" he echoes. "Why should they care? And just yesterday, weren't you the one who was all 'Oh, we shouldn't let anyone see us together. People will know who you are and invade your privacy.' So why the sudden change of heart?" He expects an answer, but instead, he gets his neck locked in between Leon's arm like a bully victim. No amount of struggling or cursing gives way to the actor's surpassing strength.

Leon takes him to a different area of the room where discarded poles, lights, and rolls of cloth are lying around. It must be a storage room, he thinks.

"Ice, just play along for now," he whispers, his voice unusually low, but Emil is having none of it.

"I'm sick of your games, Leon," he hisses. "You think you can just get your freaky bodyguard spies or whatever to kidnap me in broad daylight and waste my time? If this is about the modeling thing, I am  _not_ doing. I told you before, and I'm going to tell you now: leave me alone." He starts to head back to the main room grumbling under his breath. "I can't believe we were supposed to be soul mates. What were they thinking making us pair up together like this? Even being friends with this guy is a pain in the ass. No wonder I never had friends before. My life was so much easier—"

"Ice, please just hear me out," his "friend" pleads with him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back into the storage area. Emil has had enough at this point.

"No!" he lashes out. "This isn't funny, Leon Wang! I want to go back to Circuit!"

"I'm sorry Ice…" Leon's sudden change in voice catches him from lashing out any further. His voice grows meek and subdued like a defeated puppy or a child that was given a time-out. His lips are no longer tightened into his definitive, overconfident smirk, and his head in hung lower than Emil's line of sight. Because of that, Emil quiets down and hears what he has to say.

"I had a fight with my old man yesterday," he explains in a distraught voice. "I'm not supposed to leave my hotel without his permission anymore. If I do, he said he has to send bodyguards out with me wherever I go, and you know we both don't want that. That's why…" His feet shift in place. "…I brought you here. I need to finish up with a photo shoot here, too, and I dropped a hint to one of my photographers that maybe you could do a few shoots with me." He desperately looks up. "Ice, this is the only way we can spend time together. No one knows who you are here, and I fabricated your personal information so they think your name is seriously Ice."

" _What?_ "

"You won't believe the shit I have to pull to get you here, Ice," Leon presses. "Please do this for me. It's not even going to take that long. They'll put you into an outfit, and they're just going to shoot a couple of pictures. Most of it is just editing techniques and—"

"Leon, I said NO!" Emil shouts. From the main studio, everyone has fallen into a deafening silence. He realizes he let his emotions get the better of him, but he can hardly blame himself when he is kilometers away from where he is supposed to be. If his brother finds out, he may never get to leave his house again.

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" he continues to snap. "This isn't a movie, Leon, where you pull off some over-the-top stunt and expect the people around you to fall head over heels for you.  _It doesn't work that way._ This is reality, and whether you know it or not, you should know that you can't get everything you want in life."

Leon blinks.

"Tell those freaky guys in the suits to take me home, Leon," Emil demands with a firm voice and an unrelenting stare. "And while you're at it, fix my phone and take back your heta. I don't want it. I can survive on my own without the help of some high-end celebrity. You don't even know the meaning of hard work, do you? You've been living like a star all your life. Well, guess what? Sometimes, it doesn't always have a happy ending."

His lungs are ready to burst after he finishes. He cannot recall ever talking to someone like that for so long in his life. One part of him feels proud that he managed to talk like that to someone like Leon Wang; however, the other part of him thinks he was a fool for saying that. There is no doubt that Leon will do something drastic. He does not have to take his lip. He is Leon Wang, adopted son of Yao Wang, one of the wealthiest men—if not the wealthiest—in all of Holo and even Eliatha. Saying something like "you can't get everything you want in life" does not have to apply to him. He might have made a big mistake.

But, as usual, Leon says something that always manages to take him by surprise. "If that's what you want, then I can do that," he speaks in a quiet voice. His face is concealed by his bangs and his head lowered at a near ninety-degree angle. Emil cannot see his golden eyes anymore. "I'll fix your phone, and I'll redo everything, but if I do, then we'll never speak to each other again."

Never, he says.

Somehow the word frightens Emil. Never. As in the word that he uses with his parents, of how he will never be able to laugh with them or ask for their comfort, or of how he will never be able to smell his mother's familiar scent or embrace them during difficult times. Never.

Leon's hand is sticking out. Emil thinks he means to fix his phone and rewire his bank account to its normal numbers. The entire time, they do not see each other's eyes. One looks defeated while the other feels guilty.

A sharp pain in his chest overtakes him. This is not what fate had in store for him. He does not think this is the end. This cannot be. Their watches hit their zeros at the same time. There must be more. He waited a short amount of time compared to some searching for their soul mates, but in his opinion, nineteen years is a damn long time to wait to meet his significant other. If he leaves him now, he will not just throw away those nineteen years…he will throw away a friend.

His friend's hand is still extended out to him like a ghostly limb from a decaying tree. Leon's head can practically reach the ground from limping off its neck like a dead weight. Emil's hands are rigid, but his fingers still contain a little life. His mouth is hung open, wondering if he is making the right decision. Then with his phone in hand, he lifts the device out to him and hands it over. A tug pulls on it, but the phone does not slip from his fingers.

Leon looks up and finds that Emil's thumb is squeezing on it. He is not letting go. He persists, but the phone sticks in place, wedged between their fingers.

"I want your number," he says to Leon. "And I don't want the one on the phone you turn off; I want the number to your phone you leave on."

His friend gapes at him with an expression of pure wonder and bewilderment. He, too, is unfamiliar with this sensation. Emil is a remarkably fascinating person underneath the surface. He wants to know more about him. He wants to dig underneath the surface until no corner remains unexplored, where no stone is left unturned. In that instance, without a moment's doubt, Leon realizes something: he _wants_ Emil.

The first response that comes out is a simple "Sure" on his part. He takes Emil's phone with a smile and punches in the number to his emergency phone, the phone that, until now, was only used for contacting Cheng. Now there are two important people in his life.

"Here," he says and gives Emil back his phone. "And about the money, just keep it. I'll stop messing with your stuff, but just keep the money as a gift from me to you." Emil gives him a doubtful look that makes Leon hold his hands up like a captured thief. "I'm not saying our friendship has a money value! I'm just trying to be nice!"

To his relief, Emil cracks a smile and puts his phone away. "You have a funny way of showing it," he chuckles and looks up at him. Those are what he wants to see, those captivating lavender eyes against his snow-white complexion. For someone who does not believe himself to be photogenic, he has a certain charm that will capture the hearts of viewers—with the right training and timing, of course.

When all is said and done, they start to back each other down with sheepish looks. Neither of them really knows what to say to the other until someone from the studio (wearing all black) pops into the storage area and asks for them to hurry up.

"Leon, we don't have all day here," he says in a sassy, over-exaggerated voice. "We have exactly two hours to finish here, and there are still touch-ups and outfits to chose for your friend." He refocuses his attention to Emil. "Ice, was it?"

"Uh…yeah…" he answers in a meek voice. He feels like this person is able to see through his clothes and straight at his pale, scrawny body just by staring long enough. In fact, after hearing his reaction, that might just be the case.

"You sure are the skinny fellow," he remarks without any shame. Emil wants to throw a dirty look his way, but he tells himself that these people must work with famous models and actors round the clock. "That's not going to be a prob'. Makes it easier to slip on any tight-fitting clothes." He snaps his fingers at Leon like an owner to his dog, but Leon does not make a reaction. "And you, boy, go get changed. Ice, come with me."

Emil opens his mouth only to let out a startled gasp as the man clings onto his arm and drags him away.

"Have fun, Ice," Leon snickers with a short wave and disappears to another part of the studio.

Never in his life did he expect modeling to be so strenuous on the body as well as the mind. The moment Emil comes into the dressing studio, a team of women and men alike plop him onto a platform, orders him to take off his clothes (luckily Emil was wearing a light tee underneath), and take measurements of all parts of his body. Some of the women come uncomfortably close to areas he prefers to keep to himself, but it cannot be helped. Right after that, they shoot their mouths off like guns and discuss measurements, colors, fabrics, and appearances. It is no better than being a living doll. He gets no say in the matter when they then throw him behind a stall, toss some clothes his way, and bark at him to get changed like a drill sergeant. As he is changing, Emil wonders if Leon gets the same kind of treatment when he does photo shoots.

Once he is finished dressing, the crewmembers and assistants take him to a mirror where they begin to brush his hair and dust his cheeks with rosy powders.

"His skin is so soft," one of the women swoons when she examines his jawline. "Look at how white it is."

"I know, right?" her co-worker giggles. "Like, his face is so perfect, and is this natural?" She runs her longer fingernails through his hair. Emil holds himself back from shuddering even though it feels like plastic knives running through his head.

"I-It's natural," he timidly answers before they dab his lips with what looks like lip-gloss. He suspects his lips must be too pale that it matches his skin complexion.

"Even his lashes are white!" the giggle box squeals when she looks at his eyelashes. "Look at this!" Her co-worker leans over for a closer look and lets out what sounds like an exaggerated gasp. At this point, Emil cannot tell if they are acting or being genuine.

"Oh my gosh, you're right," she smiles. "That's so cute. Where did Leon pick up this boy?"

If it were not for the makeup, Emil might have made a face. They were acting like he was not even here. They could have easily asked him where Leon found him. At the same time, though, he thinks it is best to hide his explanation in case the thing about their watches synchronizing is a big deal.

"I think he said he picked him up at a club or something?" the other one guesses. "I can't remember. He was vague about it."

"Oh. He's really cute."

"I know, right?"

Emil refrains from rolling his eyes.

* * *

When he finally comes out of the dressing room, Emil can no longer move his face. He feels like the makeup will come off if he so much as blinks his eyes. The sensation is no better than wearing a mask of broken glass and needles pointing at his skin; if he moves, it will be all over for his face. Leon notices this right away when Emil meets up with him again.

"Whoa, you look nice," he chuckles when Emil is within speaking distance. "Oh, you don't have to worry about moving your face. They do a good job with the touch-ups—not that you needed that much. Come on. Smile."

"I don't feel like it," Emil grumbles. His lips are barely moving. He wants to take a napkin and get rid of all the lip-gloss. It is sticky and beyond annoying. Unlike Leon's perfectly reddish pink lips, Emil has the short end of the draw with pale lips that are more white than pink.

"Huh." Leon flicks back his bangs. "Okay…One sec, Ice." He excuses himself for a moment and goes to a man with a black beanie over his entirely black outfit. Why black, Emil wonders? When Leon finishes talking with the man in the black beanie, he tells him he does not have to worry about smiling anymore.

"Ice, come over here," the man with the beanie says. "Chop chop. Come on. You look fabulous. Leon tells me you're camera shy? This is your first time?"

"Y-Yes…" he answers in accordance to his modest nature.

"That's fine. We'll see what we can do." He gives him a light push forward onto the white tarp that acts as both a backdrop and flooring. "Okay, so what I want you to do is to act natural. Give us an expression of you."

Emil's first thought is that he must joking. He thought the photographers were supposed to tell him how to model, not to have him make up his own posses. Desperate for assistance, his attention automatically turns in Leon's direction. His friend only gives him a "V" sign and a wink.

"Some help  _you_  are," Emil grumbles under his breath and looks back at the camera. He does not know what to do. By reflex, his hand moves to his other arm and squeezes it for physical reassurance. His mouth is hung half open to prevent his lips from sticking together, and his weight shifts to one leg for support. His shoulders squeeze together in nervousness, and his back bends a slight angle to the front. His head moves ever so slightly to the floor, and in an attempt to say something, a bright light flashes in to his eyes. The spell is broken.

"What the—!" he gasps. "I wasn't ready!"

"You were to us," the cameraman bluntly replies and tells him to do another pose.

Frightened and clearly thinking he has made a mistake, Emil seeks the support of Leon. "Leon, what am I supposed to do?" His voice cracks, a compliment to his blushing fit. His cheeks are bright red at this point.

"Just be yourself, Ice," he tells him. His arms are crossed as if he is establishing an unapproachable, dominant character.

"I can't be myself like this in front of all these people!" he cries. His heart feels like it will leap out of his throat at any second.

Leon quickly goes over and whispers something to the cameraman. After that, the cameraman tells everyone in the studio to take a fifteen-minute break. Everyone eagerly disperses along with the cameraman while Leon walks up to the set.

"Gee, guess I pushed this a little too hard on you," he finally admits.

"Oh, you think?" Emil snaps. "I don't even know why I'm doing this…"

"So we can spend time together, Ice," Leon smiles. "You're nervous, right?"

Emil immediately nods.

"We don't have to use the large sets if you don't want. A regular camera is fine. Here, let me see what I can get." He quickly disappears and returns with a decent-sized camera with a simple lens attached. "How about you get on your knee?" he suggests. Emil listens and cautiously sits on one knee. His movements are as restricted as the clothing. How anyone can wear this stuff on a regular basis is beyond his grasp.

"Now lift your other knee up like so," Leon says, "and while you're at it, rest your elbow on your leg."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he chuckles. "Okay, now just…uh, like, just put your cheek on your hand or fist. It doesn't matter which one." He waits for Emil to decide on his pose. He goes with a loosely closed fist. "That's fine. Here, I'll get a few shots. Look at the camera for me, Ice."

Emil's eyebrows come together in a miniscule crease. "Do they care that you're wasting their data?"

"Nah, don't worry," Leon dismisses. "They've got boxes and boxes of memory chips. You don't have to smile if you don't want to." Emil does not smile. "That's fine. Okay, I'm going to take it now. One…two…three!"

The shutter goes off, and the lights surrounding Emil flash in synchronization. When the light disappears, his eyes are swimming with bubbles of light and ghost-like bubbles blinking wherever he looks.

"Gah…" he groans.

"You're not used to that, huh?" Leon takes note. Emil shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut. "That's okay. It takes some getting used to. Can you keep going?"

"Sure," Emil replies. He figures this is better than having an entire team of crewmembers staring at him. It will be good practice, too, if he ever feels compelled to agree to something like this in the future.

For the rest of the break, the two continue to pose and shoot photo after photo. Emil puts up little resistance when his friend tells him to pose a specific way. None of the poses Leon tells him to do are over the top or too uncomfortable to get into. When he is asked to sit down and tilt his head, he sits down and tilts his head. When Leon tells him to look towards the ground, he looks at the ground. This continues on until the crewmembers' break is finished. While preparing for the photo shoot again, the main cameraman takes a look at Leon's photos.

"These aren't bad," he comments before adding, "for someone without any experience with professional photography. So this is Ice's character?"

"Shy and modest," Leon says. "He's a good kid." Emil wants to say something about being called a "kid." Leon is younger than him, after all. But, he keeps his mouth shut and waits for further instructions.

"I suppose we can work with that," the cameraman says. "But today we were just doing some samples." He pauses to look at Emil who is standing in a restricted, closed-off pose. "So you're saying you want us to use this character of his for these certain kinds of poses."

Leon brushes his bangs out of his eyes. "I don't want to make him something he's not. Just get his character down. It's good for people who are reserved, don't you think?"

The man does not look like he particularly agrees, but since Leon's father is the one who hired him for this position, there is little he can do to protest. "We'll see what we can do with this, then," he says. "Could be cheaper, too. I think he likes working with fewer people. He didn't even need that many touchups from what I heard."

"Nope. He's cute."

Emil hears that comment and bows his head in a failed attempt to hide his blush. Some of the female members catch him and stifle their giggles.

Since it does not appear that Emil is comfortable with carrying on the photo shoot, they move right along to the rest of Leon's session while Emil changes back into his sweater and jeans. When he returns to the set with his ordinary clothes on, he sees a large crowd gathered around the set. It is impossible to see what is going on when there are so many people clustered like this, so much so that Emil gives up on trying to see Leon altogether. It is not until long after the photo shoot is done (forty minutes later) that he sees his friend again.

"Didja like what you saw?" he asks when he finishes, grabbing a bottle of chilled water and downing it in no more than a few gulps.

"I didn't even get to see you," Emil frowns. "Your little giggle box friends were making a barrier."

"Oh." Leon rubs his neck. "You can see the pictures when they finish the retouching—not that they need that much from me."

Emil glares daggers at him.

"Or, you," he quickly adds. "The guy says you didn't even need that much touching up. That's good." He pauses. "So, like, I've got an hour until I need to head back to my old man's building. You wanna, like, grab a bite to eat?"

"Go out?" Emil starts. "Isn't it dangerous?"

"Nah, don't worry about it," Leon scoffs. "I've got Lien and Kasem with me today."

Emil raises an eyebrow. "And who are they?"

"Your escorts."

His stomach sinks. "What are they? Your bodyguards?"

This makes Leon laugh. "No. Lien and Kasem are my distant cousins. Lien's my old man's secretary, but she's taking time off to be here today; and Kasem's…well, yeah. Actually, he's a pretty much a bodyguard when he's not helping me with stunts and special effects. They're like family, though, because they are, I guess. So you wanna go out with them?"

Emil hesitates, but when his stomach answers otherwise, he unenthusiastically gives into his physiological demands. "Fine, I'll go," he sighs. "But no more kidnappings."

"Sorry," his friend continues to laugh. "I bet they had to do that because there was no other way to get you to go with them."

When they step outside of the studio, Emil and Leon see Lien and Kasem looking at something together at the end of the hall. When Leon calls out to them, Lien adjusts her sunglasses while Kasem runs at Leon with his phone.

"Leon, look at this!" he beams with a wide smile out of character than what Emil previously expected. His abruptly cheerful personality reminds him of Mathias. His hair, too. "Isn't this cute? Lien and I were looking at pictures!"

"Oh." Leon takes a closer look. Emil sees that it is a picture of a baby elephant. He remembers seeing one in the zoo at Wire. "Yeah, it's cute. So, anyway, we were thinking of going out to eat at Dragon."

Lien momentarily moves her head in Emil's direction. "Is he coming, too?"

"Of course he is," Leon says. "Let's go."

They walk back the way they came in. While Leon did not go in with Emil, he leads the way with a confident stride until they are back in the elevated parking lot. He calls for a race between him and Kasem; they then bolt across the parking lot until they reach the car around the same time.

"Boys," Lien sighs, shaking her head while she walks with Emil.

"Get in, Ice!" Leon smiles and slips into the back. With no other reason to refuse, Emil quietly sits in the only other backseat with a window. When the cars starts and moves back to the elevator, Emil talks with Leon.

"Leon, is it fine that they know my real name?" he quietly asks as though Lien and Kasem should not be hearing them. "I thought you didn't want anyone knowing who I was."

"Lien and Kasem are cool," Leon says. "Besides, they're family. They don't know about the watches, though."

"Oh…" Emil blinks. "So it's just your cousin?"

"Yup. What about you? You haven't told anyone else, have you?"

He shakes his head. "Good. The last thing I need is the media stalking our asses for coverage."

Emil's hands fidget. "How did you find out about my number and where my classes were?" he asks.

"That? It's just some hacking skills I picked up."

"Uh…"

"When you're born into a rich family, you do stupid things," Leon elaborates. "I just got bored one day, so, like, I just decided to learn how to hack. I was able to hack my old man's multibillion heta company when I was fifteen." He says that with a tinge of pride in his voice and a sparkle in his golden eyes. "Of course, I didn't do anything. Just knowing that I could mess with the employees and budgets was fine. None of the people who work for my old man are bad."

Emil chews on his lower lip. "And what about me going out with you like this? Won't people get a little suspicious?"

Leon tilts his head up to the ceiling as he thinks on that. "Mm, you've got a point. Hang on." He taps on the glass barring Lien and Kasem from the back. Kasem is the one who opens a slot in the window. "Hey, Lien, can you, like, stop by Blossoms on the way? I need to pick up something for Ice."

"Sure," she emotionlessly replies, and the slot closes back up.

Emil raises an eyebrow. "Isn't Blossoms an expensive line?"

"It's not  _that_  expensive," Leon refutes. "Besides, I get discounts all the time because my cousin designs for them."

"Oh, yeah." Emil remembers researching something about that during his study-up on his friend's background information. "What's her name, again…? Mei Wang, was it?"

Leon smirks. "Hey, looks like you've been doing some studying, Ice."

He blushes. "I bet one of your fans would know more about you than I do." He pauses. "I was trying to fine out which cousin is the one who knows about us, but I couldn't pinpoint him."

His friend laughs. "Hey, all the better to meet him in person, then," he grins. "But, like, what do you think he's like?"

"I don't know, some guy in his late teens, early twenties?"

Leon blinks. "And?"

"And he likes stuff you like. Maybe dances and listens to music a lot or something. I-I don't really know, Leon."

To his flustered jumble of emotions, Leon just laughs again. The topic drops when they park in a garage next to Blossoms. Lien and Kasem escort them to the front. The entire building is covered from top to bottom in a gentle pastel pink like an old building that was sun bleached into a faded rosy color. Holograms of spinning pink flowers (Emil suspects they are plum blossoms) float around the store and spray little whiffs of a sweet-smelling scent when they pass through the sliding doors. In the front, there is a little hovering robot shaped like a pink cube there to greet them with a cute, electronic voice.

"Welcome back!" it chimes in a perky voice displaying a pixelated screen making a "^v^" symbol that resembles a happy bird. Emil always thought the "v" indicated a beak instead of an actual smile. The robot must recognize Leon's registration on his phone, which explains the reason it said, "Welcome back" instead of the usual "Welcome" at stores back home.

"May I interest you in a new selection of hats this afternoon?" the robot asks in an overly polite voice. It is too cute to ever belong to a human being.

"Actually, yes," Leon tells it.

"Right this way!" the robot squeaks and flies off into the store. It leaves a trail of spinning pink blossoms behind, a trick of the eyes displayed with nanotechnology. Emil thinks the scented sprays is generating the moisture in the air that helps make the blossom images possible. It is rather clever of the chain to serve two functions at once like that.

The robot is floating over the store's selection of hats when they all find it. Some of the hats are normal, but a large variety of them are designed to be in the shape of animals. There are several creatures ranging from cats to dogs and the more exotic bunny fairies and oddly adorable dragons.

"No two are alike!" the robot informs them. "We always ensure that your selection is one of a kind! No duplicates made!"

"Take your pick," Leon gestures towards the wall of hats. Emil immediately knows which one he wants. There is a black and white bird with a bright orange beak hung on a hook. Emil is unfortunately too short to reach it on his own, and the robot arrives to his assistance.

"Which one can I get for you?" it asks with its "^v^" display.

"The puffin hat," he quietly tells it, and watches as it floats to the top, extends a miniature-mechanized claw, lifts the hat up, and brings it down to him.

"Will that be all for you?" it squeaks.

"Yes," he says.

"We can ring it up right here if you'd like," it offers.

Leon steps in. "I'll take care of this." He shows the robot his phone that the robot scans. In less than a second, it starts to chug out numbers on a separate holographic screen. A small, electric wheel turns on the side that indicates the transaction process. Finally, the robot lets out a small  _ding_  and displays a "^o^" symbol on its screen. It would almost be cute if it were not so excessively attending.

"Payment received! Thank you for shopping at Blossoms! Would you like a bag to go with that?"

"No, thanks," Leon says and slips the tag off. He hands it to Emil and instructs him to wear it right away. When the hat is on, they exit the store and return to their vehicle.

While driving, Emil fiddles with the wings on the sides of the hat. The material is significantly more comfortable than the hat Leon won him at Retro, and the rim hugs his head like a comfortable blanket resting around his cranium.

"Th-Thank you, Leon," he gratefully tells him in while driving.

"No problem."

"How much was this?"

"Does it matter?"

"Uh…I guess not to you." He thinks of something else to say. "So…if anyone saw us in Blossoms, what are we supposed to do about that?"

Leon leans over to him and pulls out his phone. "Already taken care of, Ice," he grins. "Look." On his phone is a prerecorded video of the time when they walked into Blossoms. Emil peers closer and sees to his surprise that it looks like only Leon, Lien, and Kasem went inside. It is as if he did not exist at all.

"How did you do that?" he breathes.

"Some software," Leon says. "It captures images of the store before we went inside, and I can just crop the images and paste it all over the locations you were at. If I use a program to continuously do that, I can erase you from the footage completely." His revelation suddenly disturbs Emil. With this kind of technology, he can get rid of a lot of evidence. Leon does not appear to be a bad person, though knowing he can easily cover up his tracks with a fabricated alibi proves to be rather unsettling.

"You could only do this if you hacked into Blossoms' security network," he whispers.

"Uh huh," he says without a trace of guilt. "I've been able to do it before finding out how to hack my old man's company." He notices Emil giving him untrusting stares. "Hey, I've never done anything bad. Honest. Yao would kill me three times over if he ever found out. I'm not a superstar because of my good looks alone, y'know."

Emil rolls his eyes and stares back out the window. There is nothing impressive to see other than the multitudinous rows of brand name stores and chains. The architecture and the occasionally glimpsed interior design are lovely, but there is little to gawk at when that is all there is to see. It is as if this place is not really alive. Even at Blossoms, he did not see any human employees attending their needs; checking items out was also not necessary to perform with human interactions.

"Hey, Leon, can I ask you something?" he brings up.

"Go for it," Leon replies, also looking out his window.

"Are all the shops here looked after by robots?"

"You mean Cubes?" Leon asks. "You're talking about that little pink thing floating around, right?"

"S-Sure," he nods.

"Yeah, they're all over the place. I forget you guys don't know about them. It's because the people in Volt have too much time to do other things—employees included. Think about it: if you hire employees to work anywhere, it means you're subjecting yourself to let 'commoners' into this district, right?"

Emil furrows his eyebrows. "So I'm inferior to you?"

"No, I didn't mean that," Leon clarifies. "I'm just saying that's how most of the people here in Volt think. Plus, if there are humans working, they have to pay them. You don't have to pay Cubes or worry about liabilities or insurance or getting sick…the list goes on. Plus after a while, you get used to them."

"So there are no humans in the stores, period?"

"There are. You just don't see them because they're considered upper management. Anyone who hangs around a store is usually the manager or owner. They take care of things like payments, stocks, and sales."

"Oh."

"It's kinda messed up, I know," Leon acknowledges.

Emil stares back out the window. There are more cars and taxis than there are pedestrians like in Circuit. After finding out about the Cubes, the streets are not as impressive and lively to him anymore. It is as if the place is, for a lack of a better word, lifeless.

"We're here," Leon suddenly announces to Emil and points out his side of the window. There is a large, elegant golden sign constructed on the outside of a large display of rocks. The sign is further surrounded by a pond, and when Emil looks closer, he thinks he can see fish swimming in it. He wonders if they are real or not.

Lien and Kasem open their doors when the car turns off. As they approach the restaurant, Emil sees them removing their sunglasses for once. Both sets of eyes, much like his friend's, are deep golden pools; Lien's, however, is a slightly brighter shade of gold like the afternoon sun, while Kasem's eyes are a soft shade of honey gold. Meanwhile, Leon tells Emil what the sign in the front says.

"That Jiang character is 'dragon,'" he explains. "If you knew that, you'd know that this restaurant is called 'Dragon.'"

"Why do they call it that?" Emil asks, pulling on his hat to make sure it is secure.

"Because this place is famous for selling dragontail."

Emil makes a disgusted face at the sound of the name. "Dragontail?" he echoes.

"It's a fish that has a long tail that looks like a dragon's," Leon explains. "It's good, and I'm someone who doesn't like eating fish all that much. Wanna get one?"

"Er, maybe when I get a scope of how much it is," he reluctantly replies.

Leon shrugs. "Suit yourself."

Unlike the chain stores like Blossoms, there is a waiter standing behind a small podium etched with elegant brass carvings. All of the characters are in Jiang. Emil is more focused on the fact that there are no Cubes serving the food or attending to the diners.

While Lien asks for a table for four, Emil turns to Leon. "Why aren't there any Cubes in here?" he asks.

Leon chuckles at how uninformed about Volt he is. "I forgot. In Volt, it's actually a  _privilege_ to work at a high-end restaurant."

"Why?"

"Because you get to meet all sorts of important people. No one goes to restaurants that don't have the ability to compete. In other words, every single restaurant in Volt is good. If you land a job, you're bound to bump into someone big sooner or later. The loose ones like to chat about their success stories, and the servers learn a thing or two. Then again, just about everyone in the waiting and kitchen staffs are elites, too; they're just more passionate about what they do, you could say. Chefs and popular servers are like celebrities in their own rights because people remember them."

"Wow," is all Emil can say to that. He really feels like he has lived under a rock all of this time now. Beyond the gates of the rich and elite, the district of Volt is like another world all on its own.

Emil follows Leon and his extended family to a table near an area with a transparent floor. When he looks below, he sees that there is water literally flowing underneath them. To his pleasant surprise and delight, there are fish that pass through the pebbled bottoms and circle around the waters.

"There are fish!" he quietly breathes in wonder.

Leon laughs. Of course, he must have been here several times and knows that fact. All the same, Emil asks if they are real or not.

"You'd better believe it," he grins and plops down on a seat next to him. "Those are koi. They even have them in the bathrooms."

"Seriously?" Emil gapes. He thinks he will use the restroom sometime in between their meal.

"Uh huh." He then hands him a menu and shifts his attention to his own. "Get whatever you want, Ice. It's my treat for dealing with me today."

Emil dryly laughs. "Ha. After everything you've put me through, I think I deserve a freaking feast and three hats."

Leon does not bat an eyelash. "I could get you those things, Ice."

"No!" he quickly bursts out. "I was just joking!" From the corner of his eyes, he can see Lien and Kasem giving each other amused looks—Kasem more so than Lien.

After some time passes, Leon excuses himself to go to the restroom. That leaves his cousins and Emil alone at the table. Emil is the only one who has not finished deciding on his dish. The menu is translated, but by the characters, he knows that this place is a Jiang-style restaurant. There are several things he wants to try, but he does not want to appear greedy or gluttonous. Dragontail is out of the question after seeing the high sticker price on the dish. He then thinks to ask Lien and Kasem for their opinions.

"Um, so…" he nervously pipes up, "do you guys have anything you recommend?"

"Curry!" Kasem smiles.

"Noodles," Lien softy answers.

Emil wonders if curry noodles is possible and gives his suggestion. Both rapidly shake their heads as if curry and noodles is something forbidden and unheard of. There are even looks of horror and utter disgust on their faces upon mentioning the combination of the two. He finally settles on a cold sampler plate with thin slices of meat, salted rooted vegetables, and jellyfish, a creature he thinks will be interesting to try after Lien and Kasem tell him of its curious flavor.

Right after deciding on his order, Leon returns—only, he is not alone. There is a tall person—even taller than Mathias—standing beside him with a polite smile, donning an impressively professional business suit. His entire aura looks refined like that of the classic gentleman from days long lost; his dark brown hair is neatly combed over the right side of his ear, and his striking golden eyes hide behind sharp glasses tucked on the bridge of his nose. Whoever this is, he has to be important.

"Ice!" Leon smiles when he steps to the side of this man. His smile, Emil catches, is wider than usual, like he is a child who found something interesting while playing in a hidden part of his house. "Guess who I bumped into at the other table?"

Emil can only stare in silence. He does not know who this man is, and to save himself the embarrassment of not knowing, he remains silent.

"Aw, Ice, I thought you'd know," his friend disappointedly pouts. "This is Cheng Wang! The cousin I was telling you about! Come on, say 'Hi' to him!"

"Oh…H-Hello…" he bashfully stutters. He can feel his neck shrinking into his shoulders.

"Hello to you, too," Cheng warmly smiles. "You must be Leon's friend. It's very nice to finally meet you." He extends his hand out to Emil to shake it. Emil clumsily reaches out and takes hold of his hand. His hands are soft, but his grip is firm and confident like a true businessman. It is hard to believe that this man is one of the tycoon figureheads in Neon. Just looking at him makes Emil breathe in fascination. He does not come off as snarky or intimidating, but composed and refined. As he goggles at him, Emil has a strange sensation of comfort, like he can be who he wants to be around him. He does not appear to be a fatherly type, yet he also does not seem to be the brotherly type, not as a friend, but not quite as a family member. Whatever the case, Emil thinks he likes this person.


	6. VI

It just so happened that Cheng was having lunch with a few business partners when his cousin spotted him above the other diners on his way to the bathroom. Ecstatic to see him so coincidentally, he eagerly took him over to his table to introduce Emil, his supposed significant other. Of course, Cheng has to return to his own party, but for now, he decides it is best to see to it that everything on Emil's end is doing fine.

"Are you enjoying your stay here in Volt?" he asks after taking an extra seat. He notices Emil's humble nature in a quick moment and talks to him on eye level—so as not to intimidate the overwhelmed young man any further.

"It's nice," he answers, twiddling his thumbs in crossed fingers. He never fails to keep his eyes on him, but it does not take an expert to spot how out of place he feels. Nevertheless, Cheng continues to smile, hoping he has not offended his cousin's friend in some way.

"There is a lot to see here in Volt if you know where to look. I think Leon will be more than happy to take you on a tour if he had the time."

Leon chuckles. "Yeah,  _if_ I had the time." He takes a sip of tea and grimaces at the taste. Though the tea is made from some of the most expensive tealeaves, the blend does not suit his taste palette. "Ugh, he groans. "This tea tastes like shit compared to yours, Cheng."

"Language, Leon," Cheng tells him. To Emil, he sounds lighthearted, but there is still a sense of authority in the way he speaks. Leon immediately apologizes for the outburst.

"Sorry," he mutters and turns to Emil, "but Cheng's tea is really good. Like, it's the best tea you'll ever drink."

Emil awkwardly smiles. "I-I don't really drink tea, but I'll take your word for it."

"Oh. Bummer," Leon comments. "So, Cheng, get this. Like, I was telling Ice about you, and he said that he thought you were some guy at, like, my age. And you liked music and dancing and all that."

"Really?" Cheng chuckles. "I'm glad you had such an energetic impression of me, Emil—or would you prefer I call you 'Ice?'"

For some reason, Emil enjoys the way Leon's cousin calls him by his real name. It sounds appropriately professional coming out of his mouth, and he thinks there is little harm to be done if one person addresses him as such.

"Emil is fine," he says. "It's kind of nice when you say it."

Everyone at the table smiles.

"Um…I read that you're usually situated in Neon," Emil converses with Cheng. "What's it like over there?"

"It's a pleasant place when you know what you want to do," Cheng answers. "Granted, Neon is not for everyone: it's constructed for the ambitious and colloquially wealthy—both in intelligence and in monetary wealth. All in all, it deserves praise for its ability to lure adults into its streets." He softly laughs. "I say it as though it is a crude place, but I assure you that there is plenty of entertainment provided. When you come of age, I'll be more than happy to show you around."

Leon scoffs before Emil can answer. "Please, I've been there loads of times. We can take Emil for a spin sometime, can't we?"

Cheng gives Leon a worried smile. "I'm not entirely sure his family will be fine with that, Leon. You have to understand that Emil, here, doesn't live his life the way you do."

His cousin flicks back some of his bangs in an irritated scowl. "Yeah, I was made all too clear of that a few minutes ago." Emil thinks he is referring to the little outburst he made back at the studio.

After their food arrives, Cheng excuses himself from the table so they can enjoy their meal. He sends himself off with a few words with Lien and Kasem before returning to his party's table, walking with an elegant yet confident stride the entire way.

"He's cool, isn't he?" Leon grins when his cousin is out of hearing range.

Emil agrees. "He is. I like him better in person."

"Right? But enough about that. We need to dig in before I need to go back."

He picks up two odd-looking sticks on a little rectangular dish and starts to prod at his food. Emil watches in astonishment as he easily picks up pieces of dragontail that he ordered and puts it onto his plate. From his peripheral vision, he detects his bewildered friend watching him using the curious utensils and holds them up to his eyes.

"You've never seen chopsticks before?" he smirks.

"Er…no…" he shamefully replies.

"They're like your forks of Jiang restaurants. You should learn how to use them."

Emil looks at his own chopsticks and picks them up. He watches as Lien and Kasem are also using chopsticks to eat their curry and noodles. It is amazing how Lien is able to use sticks to eat noodles. Such a thing should only be eaten with forks.

Still, he does not want to appear helpless and studies everyone's grip with intent eyes. Much to his dismay, however, it appears that everyone holds their chopsticks differently. Unsure of which way is easiest, he tries Leon's way before deciding it is impossible with his unsteady fingers.

After several unsuccessful attempts to eat his slices of beef and jellyfish, he admits to being unable to use chopsticks.

"I can't do it," he says, flattening the sticks on his napkin.

"Aw, that's cute," Leon snickers, moving his chopsticks over to his friend's plate. "Want me to help you?"

Emil makes a face. "No, I'd appreciate it if you'd help me the proper way." He lets out a deep sigh and swallows the saliva gathering in his mouth. To his credit, there is plenty of food to be had, but without the proper means of consuming the food, it is as if the food should not there at all.

"Alright, Ice" Leon snickers and shows him his chopsticks. "I'll teach you the baby way of using them."

"There's a basic way?"

Leon looks over at his cousins. "Well, Kasem uses the basic way, but Lien and I hold them differently. It has to do with dexterity." He pauses. "But judging by the way your fingers move, I'd say you don't have that much."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment," he sarcastically responds.

"Here, so show me how you hold a pencil." Emil holds both chopsticks like he would a pencil. "Good. You hold a pencil like that. So then you want to support the bottom chopstick on your middle finger like this." He shows him how it is done. "And then you want to pinch the upper one with your index finger and thumb. Then you can just, like, move it up and down like so."

Emil tests Leon's instructions out with shaky fingers. There are times when his fingers flat out refuse to move the way he wants; other times, he drops his chopsticks and has to have them replaced. There are waiters hovering over them nearby with an extra set of chopsticks at the ready. They occasionally ask Emil if he wants a fork, but he refuses their offer in hopes that he can master the art of using the Jiang utensils.

"Ice, you're pushing yourself too hard," Leon comments. "Keep doing that and I'm going to eat your food." To make a point, he effortlessly takes a piece of a transparent noodle-shaped squiggle that Lien previously told him is jellyfish. Leon continues to eat more until a third of the plate is cleaned. "Better hurry, Ice," he says between bites.

Emil shoves him aside using his shoulder. "Stop it!" he snaps. "I'm starving, too!"

"We don't mind if you use a fork," Kasem says. He and Lien are nearly finished with their dishes.

"No, I can do it," he insists and tries to take a piece of jellyfish. It slips out to his minor frustration. He holds himself from making a noise in case Leon laughs at him and tries again. It falls out of his chopsticks once more. Leon takes another piece.

This torturous cycle continues until Emil finally manages to pick up a piece of jellyfish. When it stays in his chopsticks until he can take it to his lips, he holds a small celebration in his mouth for completing the difficult task.

"Nice job, Ice," Leon beams. "Too bad you couldn't do that five minutes ago."

"Shut up," he grumbles and chews on the jellyfish. The jellyfish, itself, does not taste like anything, but there are seasoned oils and little bursts of pepper and vinegar that bring out a pleasant taste and crunchy texture.

"How is it?" Lien asks.

"It's good," he says and takes another bite. He feels a sense of accomplishment when this piece also stays in his chopsticks. He zealously eats it and takes another and another. Leon looks slightly disappointed that he has mastered the basic chopsticks hold, but he congratulates him and returns to his own dish.

Soon, they are all finished with their meal, and without a moment to lose. Lien reminds Leon that he has to return to his guardian's building to get ready for a movie he is doing. Kasem also has to get ready, too, since he is part of the special effects department.

"It never feels like you guys are always on tight schedules," Emil brings up when they drive to the gold station to drop him off. "Every time I'm with you, you guys always seem to make time for me…or is that just my imagination?"

"Don't sweat it, Ice," Leon grins. "It's all work. Did you see how we were able to see Cheng over there? If we were someone else, that would have been, like a golden opportunity to chat with him. So, like, even lunch is pretty much like work."

Emil puts a hand to his temples. "I don't think I'd be able to keep up with it all," he groans.

"Well, you'd better. If your modeling career takes off, you're going to have to do a whole lot of time management and socializing."

That makes the modest college student nervous. "But what if I don't want it to take off? I just thought that thing we did today was for experience."

"You're letting that pretty little face go to waste, Ice," Leon yawns. In spite of how casually he says that, he still earns a blush from Emil's creamy complexion. "Like I said, this is the only way we can spend time together unless I don't mind my old man killing me three times over." He pauses. "Or do you want to do acting, too?"

"No," Emil immediately says. Their conversation is cut short until they arrive at the Volt rail stations.

The gold station in Volt is exceedingly fancier than the other stations Emil has been to. Like the streets in the elite district, there is not a single piece of trash to be found. There are also Cubes hovering around the premise, and some of them, Leon explains, are there for security surveillance.

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Ice," Leon assures him. "I've got you locked under a permanent residence in Volt."

Emil blinks, as he does not understand what he means.

"That basically says you live in Volt so you don't have to worry about coming in and out however you want."

"But I live in Circuit," Emil reminds him.

"Not on the databases, but no one needs to know that—unless you  _want_ to live in Volt."

Emil shakes his head. He cannot imagine keeping up with everyone else the way Leon does. And there is also Lukas and Mathias to worry about. Even if Lukas somehow agrees to let him live in Volt, he feels that his brother will end up following him there.

"Suit yourself," Leon shrugs. "Oh, that's right. You've met Cheng, but I haven't met your brother and his soul mate. You've gotta, like, introduce me to them sometime."

The air around Emil freezes at the thought. He imagines Lukas will go berserk at the slightest advancement Leon makes on him. As for his soul mate…

"Oh, the Lightning rail's here!" Leon exclaims. "Ice, you'd better get on. I've gotta go now. See you later?"

"Ah—Well…" Emil looks over his shoulder and sees Lien and Kasem impatiently waiting for him. Lien is silently tapping her foot while Kasem is frantically waving his cousin over. "I'll see you again," Emil finally says. "I'll call you…maybe."

Leon grins. "That's cool. See you around then." He gives Emil's hat a quick pat before heading back. "Oh, and try to keep that hat on you whenever we're around." With that, he runs back to his cousins and goes off to his guardian's building. Meanwhile, Emil steps into the cart and takes the rail system back to Circuit before his brother suspects anything is wrong. He will also have to think of a way to explain why he did not make it to his chemistry lab session today.

* * *

The trip back to Circuit leaves a hatless Emil not too far from a familiar face's building. While making his way back to his house (since his classes are over for the day), he decides to take a short detour in another direction.

There is vine-covered building decorated with sharp primary colors of ocean blues, lemon drop yellows, and candied apple reds. Emil recognizes the smell before he recognizes the painted window at the front spelling out "Køhler." There are little boxes of real flowers on display in the dirt-filled shelves and potted plants hanging on chains above the rafters. Two tables are set outside for warmer days, though there is no a single person to be seen since lunchtime has already passed. Emil does not mind the lack of customers since it means less pushing around and enters through the mahogany door with an old, copper-rusted school bell jingling over his head.

This place is an old-fashioned bakery: there are still plastic trays passed down through generations and the same cartoon rabbit and fox cellophane designs on the individual breads. A bucket of tongs lay handles up at the edge of a shelf lined with loaves, tarts, buns, and rolls. Emil's stomach is still decently satiated from his lunch at Dragon, but his mouth still waters when the smells of stewed strawberries, raisin-embedded croissants, and buttery loaves that melt in his mouth reach his nose.

His moment of peace gets interrupted when the shuffling sounds of cellophane and plastic-wrapped shoes come to the front. A tall figure is carrying a new batch of loaves freshly baked, too hot to package into wrapping. Behind the tray, Emil can see sandy blonde spikes of hair pointed to the cozy ceiling, and when the person moves his head to see who has entered the bakery, a large grins spreads, and two sky-blue eyes light up.

"Ice!" he exclaims and sets down his tray. "Whatcha doing all the way here?!"

In the time Emil has hung around Leon and his mild-mannered family, he has briefly forgotten how loud Mathias can be. He never knows how Lukas is able to tolerate him for more than half an hour.

"I got off from class early, and I thought I'd stop by," he somewhat lies. It is true that he left class early (for reasons not exactly honest), and it is true that he wanted to pay him a visit. He figures he does not have to tell Mathias about getting "kidnapped" and taken to Volt.

"Aww, and you came all the way here to see me!" Lukas' old friend smiles with a longing expression. "You want some bread? It's fresh out of the oven."

Emil declines with a crooked smile. "Er, no thanks. I'm not really hungry."

"Don't be silly, Ice!" Mathias laughs. "You're always hungry after class! I know your stomach better 'an Lukas does! Take one!"

Seeing that the energetic baker is not backing down, Emil releases a deep sigh and takes a loaf from the tray. The crust is still warm when he places it into his hands. As he takes a bite, he peels back the crust revealing a steaming burst of moisture along with an irresistible aroma of butter, yeast, and flour harmonizing in a splendid creation. While Mathias runs his mouth about his day, Emil takes a seat behind the counter and munches away on his loaf of bread.

"…So then my mom says it's better to just use the same amount of yeast as before because the customers can taste the difference," he goes on. "I guess it means we have a lot of loyal customers."

"That's good," Emil says between bites.

When Mathias finishes stocking the rest of the breads on the shelf, he turns back to the quiet young man barely halfway through his loaf. "So what's new with you? Didja have fun yesterday with you-know-who?"

Emil almost chokes on the piece he is eating. He starts coughing and straining to breathe when it struggles to pass through his esophagus. Mathias, always one to overreact, dashes over and pats his back a little too hard.

"Hang in there, Ice!" he cries. "Lukas will kill me if you die on me!" Emil continues to cough harder than before with near animosity as Mathias starts to panic.

"G-Gah! I'll go get some milk!" he tells him in a loud voice. "Hold on!" He disappears into the back and brings out a glass of milk. There is milk spilling onto the floors, but all Mathias can think about is preventing Emil from choking to death.

Not one to refuse anything when Mathias is in a state of panic, Emil immediately takes the glass and begins to down it. The milk moistens the bread in his throat and allows the rest of the contents to slide down into his stomach. After a few more sips, his coughing subsides, and Mathias calms down.

"Hoo!" he breathes out with puckered lips. "Oh, man, Ice, I thought you were a goner."

Emil wrinkles his nose, exasperated. "It takes a lot more than that to kill someone," he grumbles and takes even smaller bites of his remaining bread.

"Eh, sorry about that," Mathias apologizes. "Now what was I saying again? Hm…Oh, yeah! About Le—I mean, you-know-who!"

Emil nearly chokes again at the sudden mention of Leon's name. It is a good thing there is not anyone else in the front portion of the bakery, although Emil wishes Mathias was not so loud.

"We just hung out at Retro," Emil tells him. "Nothing much. Just went to a restaurant and talked. We went to the midway and Antenna, too."

Mathias smiles. "That's nice. Your brother doesn't let me take him anywhere."

Emil raises an eyebrow. "Isn't that because you guys are always busy?"

"Maybe," the baker laughs. "But it sounds like you had fun."

"Yeah." He cannot disagree to that.

"So when are you going to bring him over to your house?"

Emil swallows. "He already knows where I live, actually," he hesitantly says.

Mathias' eyes grow as wide as golf balls. "Oh, so he's  _that_  kind of person."

"What kind of person…?" Emil mutters under his breath so he does not have to answer. "Uh, anyway, he wants to come over, too. Work just gets in the way, and he told me he has troubles with his father." The word feels funny rolling off his tongue like a prickly barb. The further he thinks into it, he realizes Leon has never referred to Yao Wang as his real father. "Old man" is as far as he ever gets with him. There are bound to be more than one reason why that is the case. After all, Emil's father was different than Lukas', but Lukas still addressed him as "Father."

"Huh." Mathias pulls back his arms to stretch. "I think it's cool having someone famous bein' yer soul mate. You can do a lot of things with the rich, y'know."

"Yeah, but does that mean you'll ever be happy?"

"Sorry?"

Emil shakes his head and presses his lips onto his bread. There is only a little left. "Nothing," he mutters. "It's not important."

* * *

There is no music on the set as the man wearing a ragged tunic comes at him in a full sprint. His nostrils flare like an enraged bull charging at the red cape that is Leon's blood red robe. Without any strings attached or any props, the young actor grips his staff in clenched hands and waits for the right moment to strike.

He spots an opening. His legs are bent in a horse stance, and his shoulders are arched back for support against anything that will come his way. He waits and watches the tip of the spear with his glowing eyes.

And then…!

His opponent cuts through the open air when Leon slips past his thrust. The main actor sweeps his foot underneath in a cutting grind and trips the man up. He falls onto the ground in a cloud of dust like a deflated balloon when Leon springs on him and jabs his weapon into the earth. Seeing that the metal cut into the soil, he backs up and jumps as a spear nearly strikes his ankles. The air is tense like the very room is holding its breath. All around, spectators and crewmembers watch from a safe distance, sweat beading down their necks and noses in the heat of simply witnessing the two fight. There are no special effects added, no prewritten scripts. None of this is staged. This is real.

Leon grunts when the spear jabs straight at his eyes but misses its mark when he kicks it away with his foot. His opponent is fast, but not fast enough. He has trained all his life for moments like these, and in his youth, his strength and speed are at their peak. They continue slashing through the air, barely managing to get any attacks on each other. When they do succeed, the blood is real. The pain is genuine. Leon can imagine his cousins grimacing every time he stumbles, but the injuries are few and far in between.

Finally, he sees an opening. His opponent is starting to slow. His blocks are not as well-timed, and his footwork lags. Seizing the opportunity, Leon springs up in a vault with his staff and shoots his body over the other man. In a fraction of a second, he becomes stunned at his bountiful strength, and then he kicks out. His shoe lands into something not quite soft but not quite hard. As he lands back on the ground, Leon has not so much as broken a sweat. He is in full concentration mode. His eyes are trained to keep a lock on his opponent until the very moment he cannot stand anymore.

His opponent stands, shaken but not seriously injured. Their fight continues. A trail of wind blows past Leon's bangs when his opponent's spear swings down. Leon has been watching his movements for the past few minutes of their fight. Calculating the path of the arch, he tucks his foot underneath the spear right at the edge of the spearhead and pushes it up against the upper body strength of the other man. He then latches on with his bent ankle and yanks it straight out of the man's hand, sending the spear flying off into the background. Unarmed, the man resorts to using his fists, but it only takes a few swings, a skillfully pinpointed kick, and a thrust with Leon's palms before the man shoots onto the ground. In a final turn of the tides, he points his staff at the man lying on his back. The sharpened point is millimeters from puncturing into his blood vessels. One faulty move, and it will all be over.

Suddenly—

"Okay, cut!" the director shouts. Leon immediately withdraws his spear and relaxes his expression. He still has not broken a sweat, but he goes for a drink from the watering station. Meanwhile the supporting actor behind his is getting his wounds attended to, cracking a joke about how strong the rising star is.

Kasem hands Leon a water bottle and a towel when he approaches with a smile.

"Thanks, Kasem," he breathes and dampens his towel, putting the cloth over his neck and drinking the rest of the water in a few seconds flat.

"You were great out there, Leon!" his cousin beams.

Leon chuckles and swings his head back. "What do you expect? I was born for this stuff."

"I think if you wanted to, you could have broken his spear instead," Kasem recommends an alternative. "We can do the fight over again and see if we can somehow set that up."

"No two fights are the same, Kasem," Leon says. "That thing I did with my leg can't be done in a formula. It has to just come to me."

"Improvising as always," a new voice sighs. Kasem and Leon look over to see it is Kiku back from the office with his electronic clipboard always at the ready.

"Hey, Kiku," Leon greets him.

"Hi, Kiku!" Kasem smiles.

"Hello to both of you," the agent bows. In Leon's mind, Kiku has always been something of an oddball. His politeness is the same as Cheng's, but he as an odd set of tastes and emotions that set them clearly apart—not to mention, their heights are clearly mismatched.

"You got a message from my old man?" Leon asks.

"Er, yes," the agent reluctantly answers. "It's more of a situation rather than an order."

Leon raises a thick eyebrow. "Well? Tell us."

Kiku looks through his clipboard. "Word of mouth says Im Yong Soo is flying to Eliatha next week."

"Oh, fuck me," Leon curses and snaps his towel from his neck. "You're serious?"

To his aggravation, his agent nods with closed lips. Leon curses again.

"That damn guy," he seethes through his teeth. "What the fuck can he get from coming here? Wait." He grabs Kiku's clipboard without permission and scans through the files in search of any confirmation. When Kiku pulls away, he looks up into his dull brown eyes. "He's not coming here on a contract, is he?"

Kiku does not give him a straight answer as he is bowing his head. It has something to do with his innate culture. "I don't know the full details about why he is coming here, but when I can confirm it, I'll tell you as soon as I can."

"Shit," Leon snaps. "Of all the times…" But his temper passes as quickly as it comes. "No matter. If it's a contract he wants, then it's a contract he'll get. I'll get him out. His taste in hobbies is disgusting, anyway."

Kiku can both agree. Kasem is rather neutral on the matter.

"Leon! We're rolling back on set!" the director calls from the far end of the backdrop.

"Be right there!" Leon calls to him. "Augh, my old man's going to get it tonight."

While he returns to the set, Kasem and Kiku talk about Leon's habits as of late—mainly about the mysterious Emil Steilsson that he is hiding from Yao.

"Kasem, about your little thing with Emil," Kiku brings up, "what do you know about him?"

"He's a nice kid," he smiles with a soft glow. It is hard to tell if he is ever being serious unlike Cheng, who is always appropriately adjusting to the mood of any given situation. Kiku does not know where he falls, himself.

"Er, well, Leon told you not to tell Yao about him, correct?"

Kasem just laughs it off. "Leon has his reasons. Besides, I don't see anything wrong with the kid. Neither does Lien."

"Not Lien either?" Kiku wonders aloud. "Hmm. That's fine. I tried to get some information out of Cheng, but he isn't saying anything about it."

"Oh, we saw Cheng at Dragon a few week ago," Kasem replies a little off the topic.

"You did?" the agent blinks.

"He was with some business partners," Kasem explains.

"I see. Well, then…" He clears his throat. "It's rare for Leon to want us to keep something from Yao like this. I think we can trust his intentions enough. If Lien thinks this Emil is a nice person, then there shouldn't be anything wrong."

Kasem wears a different smile than before. "You can say he's a friend of Leon's. It's nice seeing him truly smiling for a change. We really don't want to take that away."

"A friend you say?" Kiku places his hand over his lips. "That's interesting." He looks over at Leon who is trying to poise his fighting stance for a crack at his opponent's spear. Sure enough, as Kasem recommended, he kicks up his arms, stuns him with a blow in the chest, seizes his fists, and puts his foot through the stake and straight into the man's face again. Even from their distance, it is obvious that there is a trail of blood flying out of the man's nose and possibly mouth. The crewmembers wait on the set with held breaths until he falls to the ground before the director immediately cuts the shot. Then, the medics rush over to tend to the actor's wounds. Leon frantically apologies over and over again, though Kiku knows he only means it to be polite. Soon after, he returns to Kasem and the agent only to see that they have fallen silent.

"Hey, so, like, what were you guys talking about just now?" he asks.

Kiku and Kasem give each other momentary glances before splitting off into opposite directions. Leon decides to trail after Kasem first.

"Yo, Kasem, what's up? Something go wrong with the way I broke the spear?"

"You could have done that without breaking his teeth in," Kasem uncomfortably tells him. "Try not to do that next time."

Leon brushes away his bangs. "Yao's the one who wanted to limit special effects," he grumbles. "It's not like it was my fault that guy wasn't watching where my foot was going. He could have blocked it before I hit his face."

"Not everyone's born a star like you, Leon," Kasem reminds him. He is not Cheng, but in serious times, he can play the role of a sensible family man.

"Right," the young actor scoffs. "So, like, are we done here?"

"I…" Kasem looks over at Kiku who has just finished talking with the director. When he looks back at them, he gives a little wave to signal the end of the filming session. "Looks like you're done, Leon," he says. "Now you can go back to your room."

But Leon smirks. "As if. Getting a night to myself doesn't happen every day." He takes out his phone and starts digging through applications. It is well into the evening on a weekend. He feels like doing something fun.

"Leon?" his cousin starts. "You're not thinking of..."

"What?" he innocently responds. "You didn't hear anything, Kasem. Er, like, you're off for the day. Go do something with, like, Lien or whatever." He hurries and grabs his things before heading out the door. Kasem thinks that there is something important he needs to tell Leon before leaving; however, as soon as his distant cousin disappears out of the main doors, he forgets what he means to tell him.

* * *

This night is like any other. It has been a comfortable week without ever hearing Leon Wang's name being mentioned around the house. Lukas' temperament is doing better now that Emil is going about his days like normal. Neither he nor Mathias knows about Emil's second outing with Leon when he traveled to Volt.

Tonight, Mathias is visiting Emil and Lukas' residence after a long day at his family's bakery. The evening goes by as normal as Lukas first makes an antagonizing attempt to kick Mathias out before his brother steps in. They always end up making too much fish stew every time their noisy guest pops by for a visit. There will be leftovers tomorrow for breakfast.

"I swear, this is all because your stomach decides to act up at the worst possible moments," Lukas snaps when he is putting the lukewarm stew into a container.

Mathias' laughter fills the entire house while he is washing the dishes with Emil. "It's because your eyes give my stomach butterflies, Lukas."

Emil makes a disgusted face, pulling his lips into a deep frown and creasing his light-colored eyebrows. "Good butterflies or bad ones?"

"Would it makes sense if I said both?"

"No," the brothers grunt in unison.

Mathias continues to chat on about a new type of bread his family is thinking about making: a bread specifically designed to appeal to Emil's taste, which catches his attention.

"Are you serious?" Emil looks over at the baker. "A puffin bread?"

"How uncute," Lukas murmurs. He was never one to particularly find puffins adorable like his brother.

"Yeah!" Mathias waves his arms around. It proves to be a big mistake as he gets soapy dishwater all over the floors and onto Emil's shirt. Lukas hits his so-called friend on the back of his thick skull with a silicon ladle. "Ow!" he cries. "Lukas, that hurt!"

"Oops, my hand slipped," he spaciously responds, moving his eyes back to the stew pot.

Emil lets out an irritated sigh and tries to finish up as fast as he can. The sooner he cleans everything, the sooner he can shut himself in his room.

"So about the bread," Mathias continues on, "we were thinking about stuffing the inner part with crème and coating the black parts with some chocolate shelling to appeal to the kids. What d'ya think, Ice?"

Emil does not know what to say without getting a negative reaction from his brother. If he says the idea is stupid, Lukas will sneer at Mathias. If he says he likes the idea, Lukas will make a ghostly laugh. In the end, he tells Lukas' friend to go for it.

"Huh," Lukas clicks his tongue. "You would think it's a good idea, Ice."

"There's nothing wrong with a new menu item," Emil frowns. Honestly, sometimes the way his brother and Mathias butt heads gets on his nerves.

"That's great, Ice!" Mathias exclaims, tossing more suds onto the floor. He receives another strike on the head. "Hey, since it's the weekend, d'you wanna come by the bakery tomorrow? You can be our taste tester!"

"Forget it, Ice," Emil's brother hisses. "You'll get bloated on unhealthy sugars and fats."

"My family's breads aren't bad!" the baker shouts in more of a whine than of anger. Emil senses a tantrum coming on. He hurries up with the last of the dishes. "In fact, you always eat the honey cakes I make for you all the ti— _mryyaahh!_ "

"Cut it out!" Emil snaps at the two of them. He has had it up to a near breaking point with those who. "I am  _not_  going to start my weekend off witnessing a murder in the house! Can't you two cool it?!"

"Give!" Mathias chokes as Lukas' grip on his tie tightens. "Give, Luk—! I give…!" To Emil's relief, his brother lets go of his tie and storms off to put the stew away.

"My gosh, you two…" Emil sighs and dries off his hands. He is done with his chores for the day. Eager to get a head start on a paper, he starts to make his way to his room when the buzzer at the front goes off. Someone is at the door.

"What the…?" he mouths and begins to move to the front. "Who could that be?"

"Must be the neighbors throwing a complaint about the volume again," Lukas sighs. "Ice, will you go answer it, please?"

"On it," he replies and unlocks the door without checking. When it opens, he prepares an apology and looks the visitor in the eyes…and freezes.

"Yo."

Emil's mouth turns dry. His heartbeat quickens as the recognizable image of the panda hood lifts over the visitor's head. He sees a smirk and a pair of iconic golden eyes he has been trying to avoid all this time. In his silence, he barely hears his brother coming over to see what is taking so long. When he reaches the front, he, too, stops dead in his tracks. There is a definite aura of malice about, one that even Mathias in the back cannot dispel.

"Hey," Leon smiles and sticks his hand out beyond Emil's shoulder. He can feel the air freezing in place. "You must be Ice's brother, right? I'm Leon Wang. Nice to meet you."

Lukas does not shake his hand. Emil cannot move.

"Okay…?" Leon withdraws his hand and tucks it back into his pocket as if to warm it up after being left in the cold. He thinks that with all the noise, there has to be more than two people in the house, and sure enough, the third person joins them in the front. His notices this other person has a considerable amount of muscles showing from his thin sweater and a wide jaw to support his loud voice. His hairstyle and wide smile distantly reminds Leon of Kasem, but Kasem, he thinks, has a softer heart than this goofy character of a person. How he is related to Emil is a mystery to him. It does not hurt to ask.

"Um, so…like…" He kicks the ground with a heel. "…You gonna introduce me, Ice?"

His friend's pale lips are visibly pressed together in a form of reluctance. Emil's lilac eyes wander to the side until his head follows back to the tall wild-haired figure in the back. For an awkward moment, nobody speaks until Emil manages to get his voice working again.

"U-Uh…" His voice is dry and stale like he just came back after screaming at a concert. He runs his delicate pink tongue over his lips and tries again. "Th-This is Lukas Bondevik, Leon. He's my brother. And this person…" He shifts his attention over to the other man. "…is my brother's soul mate, Mathias Køhler."

Leon's brain has to rewind that last bit in his head and play it over again. Funny, he thinks. He swears Emil said this tall, muscular man is his ghostly brother's soul mate.

The numbers do not match up in his mind. It is one thing for him to be stuck with Emil, but for such an odd pair to be together is something he will have to work on adjusting to. It is very curious how life works. Some call it luck, and there are others who call it destiny or fate. Whatever the case is here, the fact remains staring him straight in the face. It is irrefutable and inescapable in every right: Lukas' soul mate is also a guy.


	7. VII

Lukas Bondevik does not pay any attention to the children at play. The teachers have always referred to him as a troubled boy. After his father passed away, his mother was fortunate enough to find someone else to share her world with. He soon became an older brother to a fascinatingly fair-haired boy. Emil Steilsson, he was named. He did not quite understand the feeling, but he soon felt inclined to be there for his little brother. Emil was such a fragile thing to come into this world without any idea of how it worked. Lukas was already prone to seeing death, violence, and sickness. If possible, he wants to protect his dear brother from such horrors of the world. He desperately wants him to grow up in a place where he would never have to fear such things.

But for now, here at his local elementary school, leaning against a lone fence, he blankly stares at his hand and curls his fingers into a closed fist. He then reopens his hand up like a large alien-like flower breathing and blooming with fingers for petals. He repeats this process over and over again, passing the time until the bell signals the end of recess. This process also repeats on a day-by-day basis.

What is this concept called "love," he wonders? Is it possibly the feeling that he experiences towards his brother? Perhaps it is also what his mother feels towards his new father. He has seen the way they hold each other in their arms with a gentle expression that puts him at ease. While he does not feel anything when they offer him contact comfort, Lukas understands that this must be a positively enforced feeling. He enjoys it while he can.

The children run past him, never so much as glancing at him. He is like a ghost, they say. He hears them whispering behind his back about how his cold blue eyes stare off into space.

Let them, he thinks. He will not need their attention. His time is coming sooner than all of them.

Lukas' case is significant. There are others like him, but there are very few people whose watches hit their zeros at such a young age. He has already done the math. He will be ten years, one month, twelve days, and about nine hours old when he will find the one—his other.

His mother's current husband, his new father, never had a watch, but he thinks it must be fate that brought them together: a woman whose soul mate passed away being together with a man without any numbers at all. His parents are happy, so Lukas tells himself to feel the same way. He tries for his family, his brother especially.

When he thinks on it, the thought of having his other being so close fills him with both excitement and anticipation. He will have someone who is completely compatible with him for the rest of his life, yet at the same time, it means he might distance himself from his brother. These thoughts haunt him until the last day before his numbers will turn into zeros.

On his designated day, his mother takes him to a family bakery. She faintly remembers her son's watch stopping at a young age, but Lukas believes she never remembered the exact day her son will meet the person that will change his life forever.

Hand in hand, they walk along the clean-cut sidewalk to pick up a little coffee cake, a reward for Lukas receiving perfect scores on his grades this school year. He asks his mother if they will be able to share the cake with Emil. She tells him that it is not good for toddlers to eat anything with coffee, so Lukas says he will get a dark chocolate cake, instead. He knows his brother is fond of bittersweet foods, and dark chocolate comes the closest next to coffee. His mother pats his head and tells him what a thoughtful brother he is for thinking of Emil.

At the bakery, Lukas browses the selection of breads. There are little tarts and flaky croissants wrapped in cellophane. There is a picture of a fox and a rabbit on each one. Lukas thinks his brother will enjoy the little pictures and asks his mother if he can buy some additional treats to share. She smiles and tells him he may pick two of anything so as long as it is not a large cake.

* * *

Somewhere at the same time, a young boy barely into his teens is complaining to his mother for taking out the breads. He wants to go outside because his watch is going to stop soon. His mother only tells him that he will meet the right one wherever he is. Location does not matter. Time does.

Grumbling, he takes the trays of packaged breads out to the front of the store to restock. Being born in a family of bakers, he has memorized all of the locations for all the bread. He starts at the front where the baguettes are and slowly moves down towards the glass casing where there are dried fruit tarts and chocolate-filled cornets. All the while, he makes sure to check his watch from time to time, keeping an eye on the door for a pretty girl to walk in.

Questions float around in his head as he sets the breads down. Will she be nice? How does he look? Will they like each other at first glance? Did he remember to brush his teeth this morning?

He checks his ruby watch with golden numbers. Forty-two seconds left and counting. She is going to come through that door in less than a minute. He walks down the aisle to the crème-filled buns. He wonders if perhaps he should offer a custard bun when they first meet. If they are going to be soul mates, she must like bread, too.

* * *

Lukas is growing impatient. He is busy looking at his sapphire-engraved watch with silver numbers. Less than thirty seconds. His head turns towards the door where he suspects a young girl around his age will walk inside. He wonders if perhaps he should be courteous and offer to buy her something. There is no doubt that there has to be a reason they are meeting in a place like a bakery.

His mother suddenly calls him over to pay for the breads. Lukas stays put for a few more seconds. His eyes are still watching the door when he finally decides it is best to go. As he backs up towards the counter, his eyes are still glued to the entrance.

* * *

Ten more seconds. He can count aloud if he wants. There are only the custard buns to restock. His sky-blue eyes are focused completely on the door. He knows his family's bakery in and out like the back of his hand so he does not pay attention to where he is going—or to the child he is about to run into.

* * *

Five…Four…Three. Two.

"One."

* * *

The door never opens. Instead, he feels a large force push him over when something in the front bumps into his tray. The cellophane-wrapped buns scatter to the floor, and the young teen immediately apologizes. When he looks down at the person he ran into, he sees a light blonde head of hair on a fair-skinned girl. His mouth hangs open at what lovely sapphire eyes she has in contrast to her pale eyelashes and thin-lined lips. Her hair is styled in a short, wavy cut with her right side of her head concealed behind growing bangs, and her left is clipped together with a cross-shaped hairpin. She looks beautiful.

"A-Ah…" he gapes. "I'm so sorry about that." He reaches out for her to take his hand, but she silently withdraws and tears her eyes away. She looks at the door. Then, she pulls out a blue crystal pocket watch and looks at it. Her numbers, he sees, have reached zero. She is the one.

"Um..." He tries to get her attention. "Hey, um, are you looking for me?"

The girl looks back at him for a quick second with a definite look of confusion in her eyes. Her thin eyebrows are scrunched together, and while it is not a pretty look for her doll-like face, he thinks it gives her character.

Since she does not say anything, the boy takes out his ruby pocket watch and shows it to her. Her eyes grow as wide as sapphire marbles when he explains.

"Our watches stopped at the same time," he smiles. "I'm Mathias Køhler. What's your name?"

The girl remains silent. Her eyes are still wide and her lips are trembling. She must be shy, the boy thinks. He wonders how this will work out for the two of them. Suddenly, a woman, the girl's mother, he suspects, calls her child over.

"Lukas?" she says. "Lukas, what's taking so long?"

Mathias freezes. "Lukas?" That is a boy's name. But surely if this is a boy, something must be wrong. And he thought…

"Don't touch me," the quiet one hisses. Now that this "Lukas" has spoken, Mathias notices his voice is a little deep for a girl's. Girl or boy, the child runs to the counter clutching two chocolate-filled breads and returns to whom Mathias suspects is his mother.

"Lukas, I thought you wanted to hurry home," his mother says, patting his head. "What's gotten into you?" Her son clings to her coat and looks back at Mathias like he is some sort of frightening monster. His eyes suddenly grow cold with an alien-like gaze, and he refuses to speak.

Mathias, speechless from the realization, now remembers his voice and calls out to the boy.

"Wait!" he cries, running to him and holding up a custard bun. "Lukas, right?" he says. "That's your name, isn't it?"

The trembling boy's mother looks down at her son with an inquiring look. "Lukas, do you know this boy? Is he a classmate?"

"Mother, don't…" her son whispers, clutching to her coat with a tighter grip.

"What's gotten into you, Lukas? You're usually not this shy."

"Mathias, what are you doing?" his mother asks, leaning over the counter. "Aren't you supposed to be restocking?"

Mathias vigorously shakes his head. "Mom, this is my friend!" He beams at the shy boy. "Right, Lukas?"

Lukas does not say anything. He occasionally looks at him but quickly buries his face into his mother's coat. "Mother…" he mutters. "Can we go now? My stomach hurts…"

"Lukas?" The boy's mother looks down. "Wait a minute, do you or do you not know this boy?"

"Miss, we're going to be best friends," Mathias beams. He holds out his pocket watch with its numbers all at zeros. Both mothers stare at the watch and then look over to Lukas.

"Lukas?" his mother quietly coos to her son. She strokes his head and lifts his chin up so she can see his eyes. He is crying.

"Lukas, dear, did your watch stop?" she asks in a gentle voice. She takes out a handkerchief from her pocket and wipes his damp eyes. "Lukas, let me see your watch."

Her son does not immediately obey her. He sniffs and wipes his eyes with his sleeve before rummaging for his sapphire pocket watch. He does not look at her or at anyone else when he hands it over. All of the numbers are at zeros.

Lukas' mother does not say anything for a moment. She looks at her son, then at the baker's boy. Mathias is looking expectantly at the two of them as if he wants them to say something to him. All the while, Mathias' mother is watching over them without saying a word.

"Oh, Lukas, dear," she whispers, rubbing his shoulders to comfort him. "It's okay, darling. We can go home if you want. Emil and Father are waiting, aren't they?" She turns her attention to Mathias before apologizing.

"I'm sorry for this, but is it alright if you see my son another time? This is a little difficult for him."

"S-Sure…" Mathias' voice trails off.

Lukas' mother gives him a small smile. "Mathias, was it?"

The baker's son nods.

"It's nice to meet you," she says. "I really apologize about making a scene."

"Oh, no, not at all," Mathias' mother cuts in. "My son can be a little scatterbrained, and when he does, he says things he's not supposed to. He means well, though."

"I believe you," Lukas' mother lightly laughs. She hurries and pays for the breads before apologizing once again. Then, she pats her son's head and asks him if he can walk. When he silently nods, they thank the baker and begin to leave. Mathias, however, holds them back one final time.

"Wait, Lukas," he says to the boy still hiding his face in his mother's coat. "Please take this." He holds up the custard bun his hand is still clutching. "You look like yer hungry. I thought maybe you'd like this."

"That's very sweet of you, Mathias," Lukas' mother smiles. She gestures for her son to look at the gift he is offer. "Lukas, look. This boy is trying to give you something. Won't you be nice and take it?"

Lukas quietly removes his face from her side and stares with puffy eyes at the messy-haired boy. He takes the custard bun with caution and mutters a small "Thanks" before retreating his body into his mother's side again.

"No problem!" Mathias beams, glad that he accepted his gift. "If ya ever need more, just tell me!"

"Oh, Mathias, you…" his mother sighs. "Come back here and get to work."

"Coming, Mom!" he calls back. "And, Lukas, I'll see you again, okay?" He cannot be sure that the quiet boy replies, but as he watches the two walk down the street, he has a feeling that whether tomorrow, a week, or a month from now, they will definitely be seeing each other again.

* * *

"Let's try this again. I'm Mathias Køhler. I'm your soul mate."

Lukas utters a poisonous growl that makes the nervous teen withdraw his hand. This scenario is no better than trying to shake hands with a venomous snake.

"Eh heh heh…" he nervously chuckles with small beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. "You have any hobbies? Any siblings, maybe? I heard your mom saying something about an 'Emil.' Is he your brother?"

No response. Mathias tries to make the best of the time they have together. To Lukas, understandably, it feels like he is being put in a daycare. His mother dropped him off at the Køhler's bakery (that also happens to be an extension of their house) in order to spend some time with his new other, as he calls Mathias.

"What do you like to do for fun?" Mathias tries asking. "There's gotta be something you like to do."

Lukas shuts his eyes and turns his nose up. To most people, he is acting like a spoiled child, but Mathias persists and continues to talk.

"Ya know, I kinda like having you around," he laughs, scratching his head. Lukas moves his eyes over to him in silent wonder, thinking about how he must style his hair like that. "My mom and dad make me work all day, but since you're around, I get to just hang out with you. Or maybe that's it!" He jumps up and leans close to Lukas, a little  _too_ close.

"Get away from me," Lukas grunts and pushes his hands out. He means to drive Mathias away with his cold exterior. It works on everyone else around him, and he is sure that in time, this talkative idiot will give up and leave him alone. He wants to forget that he ever met this person. Because of him, his entire life is ruined. He will never know what it means to have that "warm, fuzzy feeling" his parents get when they hold one another. He will never experience the sensation of lying in the same bed together and lulling each other to sleep with little jokes and smiles and kisses. This is all Mathias' fault.

But to his surprise, Mathias just grins. "Oh! I got you to say something!" he says. Lukas cannot understand if he knows how serious he is with this matter. "Hey, Lukas, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to see how my parents work."

Lukas only blinks.

"How was the custard bun I gave you? Didja eat it? Was it good?"

Lukas bitterly squeezes his hands together and holds himself back from hitting this boy. He does not know why, but this person brings out an unusual violent urge to his hands. He wants nothing more than to hit this boy with everything he has. But he has to remind himself that he is a guest in someone else's house. His mother will yell at him if he misbehaves. So, for the time being, he holds himself together and bears with the blabbering for a little while longer.

"Eliatha to Lukas, did you eat the bread I gave you? How was it? Sweet? Creamy? Soft?"

All of those things, Lukas thinks. He ate the bread, not because it was from Mathias, but because he was hungry this morning and had nothing else to eat. The bread was soft, and the filling was not too runny or too thick. The custard was not bad, but it was the sweetest thing he had ever eaten in his life. That was a problem.

"It was too sweet," he finally speaks.

"It was too sweet!" Mathias repeats. Lukas throws a dark expression his way. He wonders how in the world this guy is three years older than him.

"Mom!" Mathias yells down the stairs. "Lukas said the custard buns are too sweet!"

Lukas hisses through his teeth. Mathias might as well let the entire world know about his opinions. His mouth is unnecessarily large for his stature.

"Oh, oh!" he excitedly breathes. "I've got an idea! How about I show you how to make them! We'll make new ones! You can see how we do everything, Lukas! An' my mom won't get mad at me! Let's go! Doncha wanna see?"

His soul mate is not in a position of enthusiasm. He looks bored like one of those loners that hang around the edge of the walls during lunchtime. Mathias does not want Lukas to be like that. He wants to know more about him and find out what makes him smile. Above all else, he wants to be his friend.

"Lukas, let's go," he urges him to no success. "C'mon, man. It'll be fun. Food always tastes better after you make it yerself. Let's go, Lukas!"

It takes a while to get him to budge. Finally, Lukas gets up when Mathias tells him he can go home when the custard buns are finished.

"The dough's already made because we had to get it to rise," Mathias explains when he dons an apron. He lends Lukas a spare one and instructs him to wash his hands and flour them off once dry. "It's ta prevent the dough from sticking," he explains. "We want yer hands to be nice and smooth so everything gets baked." He looks over to his parents who are busy braiding raisin bread and glazing cornets with egg wash. "Mom, Dad, Lukas an' I are going to make the custard buns, okay?"

"That's fine, son," his father chuckles and gets back to work.

Mathias immediately sets to work on forming the round shapes with Lukas at his side. He teaches him how to properly roll his sleeves up so they will not get flour on them, and he shows him exactly how to get perfectly round shapes by curling them together and kneading with the balls of their palms.

Lukas soon proves to be an inefficient worker since he lacks the physical upper body strength Mathias and his family has. He was never prone to preforming hard labor in his ten years of living, and he is not about to start subjecting himself to hard work during his first play date with Mathias.

After a while, he eventually gives up and lets Mathias finish off the rest of the mounds. Mathias' mother laughs and jokes about him being too pretty and thin for hard labor like baking.

"Perhaps you can do the decorating for the cakes," she suggests. "We can always use a helper for that."

"But I wanna show him how to make these!" Mathias whines. Lukas scowls when he sees how immature this teen is with his parents. He wonders if it has something to do with being a single child all his life. Then again, even before Emil was born, he never acted out of line.

"Just make sure Lukas isn't sitting around," Mr. Køhler says as he puts the raisin bread into the oven. "He looks bored out of his mind."

"Really?" Mathias blinks. "I thought he just always looked like that."

Lukas rolls his eyes and decides to see how his supposed other makes the custard filling.

"I think for you, the custard filling is the stuff that's too sweet, right?" Mathias assumes. Lukas does not know how to give a verbal answer and merely nods. "Okay, so we'll just use less sugar. First, you need to use a lot of milk and cream. We'll use…a fourth less sugar, maybe? That should be enough."

Lukas watches in silence as Mathias pours an entire bag of sugar into a large stainless steel bowl complete with an automated whisk and mixer. Then, he prepares a separate bowl of eggs, asking Lukas to help him separate the yolks from the whites.

"It's fine if you get some whites into the yolks, but if some yolk gets into the whites, we can't use that," Mathias warns him. "Just do this motion with the eggs. You'll get the hang of it." He makes it look easy when he separates the egg whites from the yolks with such precision and speed. Lukas thinks it should be easy and tries to crack his egg through the middle just like Mathias does. However, the egg splits down in a diagonal pattern and nearly causes him to drop the entire yolk into the bowl of whites.

"Whoops!" Mathias laughs. "That's not the way to do it. Want me to show you again?"

Lukas shakes his head. He still hides himself from talking. When he does this, he feels someone patting him hard on the back.

"Lukas, kid," Mr. Køhler laughs in a booming voice, "you've gotta learn to communicate in the kitchen. That's the only way things get done. How's Mathias supposed to know you need anything if you never tell him?"

A hot wash of shame runs through Lukas' cheeks. He wants to keep quiet, but that only means subjecting himself to the silent treatment. He really is the one being immature here, he realizes. Mathias is just trying to be nice. Even though he also knows his other is a boy, he is making the best out of the situation. The last time he even came into the bakery, he said they were going to be the best of friends. He really has been the fool in this unfortunate twist of events.

"M-Mathias…"

Everyone stops working when they hear Lukas' low voice in the kitchen.

"Oh! What's up, Lukas?" Mathias smiles as wide as always. He shares the same loud voice and wide smile as his father, Lukas notices, but his hair and eye color match those of his strong-willed mother. He is a nice kid from a nice family. There really is no reason for him to be so shut-off from these people. Because of that, it gives Lukas a little courage.

With lips pressed and eyes cowering to the ground, he looks in the direction of the wild-haired teen and asks him for instructions. "Can you tell me how to crack the egg?"

His temporary icy wall melts when Mathias delivers a heartwarming smile. "Sure can, buddy!" Lukas watches as he takes and egg and taps the middle of the shell on the edge of the mixing bowl. "The trick is to strike on the end with a quick, confident hit," he explains. "You've gotta be quick. If you hesitate, yer just going to end up with two bad shells." He laughs. "There's actually a way to cheat, but it's really messy."

Mathias' mother chuckles. "Don't teach him that way, Mathias. He needs to know how to do it properly."

"It's just for beginners," Mathias says and goes ahead and cracks his egg. Lukas watches as he dumps the whites from one end into the bowl and pours the other half of the contents into his hand. Then, he lefts the egg whites ooze down from his fingers and into the bowl, all while keeping the yolk in tact.

"This is actually tricky, too," he sheepishly grins. "If you burst the egg yolk in cracking process, you can't do this."

Lukas watches with keen eyes until he decides to try again. Much to his delight, when he cracks it down the first time, it splits down the middle in a perfect trail.

"That's it!" his mentor exclaims. "You did it! Now lemme see you separate 'em."

With slow motions, Lukas tries to move the yolk from one shell to the other, but when he thinks he is about to finish, the slippery orange sphere slips from his grip and plops straight into the bowl of whites.

"Sorry," he quietly apologizes, his face steaming with embarrassment.

"It's okay," Mathias assures him and fishes the yolk out with a ladle. "We all make mistakes—except me because I'm good at everything."

From the corner of his eyes, Lukas thinks he sees Mathias' parents shaking their heads in amusement.

They continue to make the custard while Mathias' father finishes glazing all of the breads and putting them into the oven. In the entire time Lukas watches them, he is amazed at how humans can invest so much energy into making these breads. Just the custard has a tedious process, and the dough for the bread has its own set of rules. The Køhlers are refreshingly devoted and hard-working people. While a little loud for his tastes, he suspects they have something that completes a missing part of himself. This might just be the surface of what his fate had in store for him.

* * *

The unfilled buns are sitting on a cooling rack as steam and a golden glow emits from their mounds. Mathias explains that when they are finished setting, they can fill them with whatever they want: custard, chocolate, crème-filling, fruits, and even sauced meats.

"It's better, too, because you helped make 'em, Lukas," Mathias muffles, his mouth full of his father's braided raisin bread. "Mom and Dad are doing the fillings because they said I put too much, and the stuff falls out into the bags. Customers don't like that."

"Excessive, aren't we?" Lukas remarks with a low voice.

Like everything else with his reactions or remarks, Mathias just laughs it off without a care in the world. "You're really cold, Lukas," he chuckles. "We've gotta fix that." Then he sees how unenthusiastic his is about that suggestion. "Or…I can work around that, too. But something made us stick together because our watches stopped at the same time, so we're staying together, buddy!"

"Fantastic." Though he is only ten years old, Lukas already knows the implications of what it means to be sarcastic. Despite this, Mathias still booms with laughter. He thinks he will have to get used to that if he is going to spend the rest of his life with him—friend or not.

"Boys," Mathias father suddenly calls, "the custard buns are ready!" He sets them on a tray. Some of them are wrapped for stocking, while others are exposed. The ones set out are the ones meant for eating. Mathias takes two, one for Lukas and one for himself.

Mathias sinks his teeth into one end right away, letting the golden filling of cream, eggs, and sugar inside dribble all over his mouth like a savage, ravenous animal. Lukas, disgusted, eats his bread away from him in careful, concentrated bites. He continues this process until he digs into the soft inner core where the custard is found. He remembers making it with Mathias. It had been a tedious process watching the cream to make sure it would not boil over. They also had to crack several eggs and wait for the custard to cool before being able to use it. All of their efforts pay off in these precious bites. He feels warmth rising in his chest as well as his stomach. The bread is delicious. There is noticeably less sugar this time around than the custard he ate this morning, but gathered around the Køhlers and a potential friend, it tastes like the sweetest thing in the world.


	8. VIII

"Wait. Let me get this straight: Lukas and this Mathias guy are seriously soul mates?"

"Seriously," Emil repeats back to him as-a-matter-of-factly. Considering he was roughly three years old at the time, he is not as bothered about the scenario as his friend.

Leon runs his fingers through his dark hair and makes a strange noise that sounds like something between a grunt and a whine. "But…like, they're both guys."

"So are we," his soul mate tells him as it is. He understands that being soul mates with the same gender is one thing but to hear about a different case is another. He never remembers ever mentioning who his brother's soul mate is until this moment. It is understandable that Leon finds it odd.

"Huh." The young pop star's eyebrows are slanted in an asymmetrical tilt; one eyebrow is raised while the other one is bent in a baffled expression. "I never thought there'd be other people like us. It's a small world."

Emil hunches his shoulders. He does not see Lukas and Mathias the way Leon might. To him, Lukas is just his brother, and Mathias is his brother's friend. Since they have known each other for so long, Mathias can practically be considered his other older brother, too.

Suddenly, Leon's unexpected snickering raises some attention. "Oh my gosh." He struggles to suppress his smile and voice. "So Mathias really thought your brother was a girl when they first met? I'll bet he gets that a lot."

"Don't bring that up," his pale-skinned friend warns him with a thinning voice. "He doesn't like it when people talk about it."

"No, it's a compliment, Ice," Leon insists. "Guys with feminine looks work well with both women  _and_ men." He pauses. "Has your brother ever thought about modeling?"

The light in Emil's irises vanishes in an instant. "I'll kill myself before you put us in the same studio," he growls.

Leon cautiously backs up a nudge and puts both hands up. "I was just kidding. He doesn't look compatible with anyone I know. That's a bummer, though. He looks like he'll be good for the business. Mathias, too—"

"Is that all you ever think about?" Emil snaps. He snorts and flops back in his chair. "When I read up on your biography, I didn't know you were an actor, singer,  _and_ a modeling scout."

"I'm not," his overachieving friend laughs. "I just thought you could use a boost and recommended you to one of my photographers. Which reminds me…" He takes his phone out of his pocket, scans through some applications, and pops open a hologram screen for Emil to see. "Check it out, Ice," he says. "They've finished touching up the photos. You'd be surprised at what a little lightning adjustment can do."

When Emil moves towards the pictures and studies them, he is taken aback at how he looks. He remembers the clothes he was given being fairly simple, but under the correct lighting and shadow masking his negative space, he looks like a professional model—or maybe it was only because Leon was there to make him feel at ease. He is honestly surprised at what a few tricks with cameras can do to make him look this way. His eyes are a glistening shade of soft violets and iridescent amethysts; they bring out the creaminess of his milk-white skin and snow-colored hair, combed into careful partitions along the front of his face. He notices how his lips are slightly parted to give the impression of innocence as Leon mentioned during their photo shoot. If he does not know better, he thinks he does not look half bad.

"W-Wow…" he breathes, otherwise speechless.

"Cool, huh?" Leon flips through some of the other pictures. While he only took a few, the editing and angles bring out an interesting character of Emil that fascinates even himself. He wonders what sorts of media he can even partake in if given the opportunity. A magazine? For what, he wonders? Probably just for clothes if his pictures ever get that far. He does not need the attention.

"Oh. Another thing," the teenage celebrity brings up, "I also went out of my way to pick up your first paycheck."

Emil blinks, snapping out of his awestruck stupor. "Eh?" He watches, dumbfounded, as Leon pulls a small envelope from his pocket. It is no bigger than the average business card, he sees. When he takes it, he feels something thin and sturdy like an old-styled credit card. Upon opening it, there is a translucent sheet of Plastichip, a material as sturdy and flexible as plastic but able to perform the functions of most Tekniq Era phones—minus the ability to make phone calls.

"It's on that thing," Leon tells him and taps a small circle on the upper face. A screen pops up from a small nanocamera and reads, "Checking verification…" Knowing this procedure from shopping at the occasional name-brand store, Emil holds up his phone and lets the Plastichip scan his encrypted identification. A blue light scans the surface of his phone, sending out a visible signal, and then, making a soft  _ping_ , the screen displays, "Verification complete." Then, a list of numbers and heta signs scroll up. Emil reads them, and his mouth drops open.

"No way…" His eyes are stuck on the last figures all in green. While ogling the number stop make sure there are commas where he thinks there might be decimals, his phone utters a soft ringing noise, signaling the heta has been successfully transferred to his account. The numbers do not lie. For those few photos he took, there are five figures reading on the screen.

"It's not really much, but compared to the lower-end models, you really cut yourself a lucky break," Leon yawns. It never fails to stun Emil at how casually he can treat these sorts of things, but he supposes being born and raised in a rich family will have that kind of effect on a person.

Emil wants to say something regarding the paycheck when he hears the sound of the front door opening and two voices bickering downstairs. Lukas and Mathias have returned from their shopping trip. Since popping over unexpectedly, Lukas immediately dragged his friend out to go shopping for something to offer Leon. Emil suspects they went out to talk and cool their heads rather than paying Leon any real courtesy. As far as anyone is concerned, no amount of hospitality can amount to the luxury the teen idol sensation indulges in.

"…This is why I never bring you along, you brainless hedgehog," Lukas' velvety yet toxic voice seethes from below. "Who offers a celebrity beer—and an  _underage_  one at that?"

"My folks let me drink when I was sixteen! It's no big deal!" Emil knows that the louder voice belongs to Mathias.

"It  _is_ a big deal if word gets out that Leon Wang passed through here," the cold viper hisses. "Honestly, your tastes are the worst I've ever seen, hands down."

"But you don't know that many people!"

"And I suspect the only people you know are from your drinking sprees?"

"That's not true! I've been to cocktail parties, too!"

Both teenagers can hear a dark, bubbling growl coming from an icy voice. Lukas sounds like he is ready to explode into a thousand black-stained icicles. Emil knows better than to make things worse. It is actually better to remain where they are and let the two settle their differences themselves.

"Shit, Ice," Leon smirks, raising a thick eyebrow. "They sound like a married couple."

Emil wrinkles his nose. He has been though this song and dance before. "They sound like two friends who've know each other for a little too long."

"How old did you say your brother was?"

"Seven years older than me," he answers. "Lukas is twenty-seven. Mathias is twenty-nine. Since their watches stopped when my brother was ten—"

"Holy shit, so they've known each other for almost as long as we've been alive?"

Emil can feel his eyebrows twitching and his lips jerking to the sides. The thought almost amuses him. "When you put it that way, it makes them sound really old."

"…Shut your trap and help me with the damn potatoes," Lukas finally snaps in the kitchen.

"On it, Lukas!" Mathias immediately responds.

While the two are busy, Leon takes some more time to explore Emil's room. Lukas' room and their parents' rooms are off-limits, but Leon was told earlier that he could explore the rest of the house—so as long as he did not get in Lukas' way.

"Your room's pretty plain," Leon comments.

Emil cannot disagree there. Unlike most people his age, his walls are not animated with moving wallpapers or posters expressing his interests. There is a lone shelf stacked with odd figurines and a few pictures. Little else remains to be described. A sliding door opens up to his closet were his clothes are neatly organized by color, material for warmth, and style. His bed has a plain frame with pipe support situated at a wall. When he was a child, Lukas refused to let him put his bed along the windowsill in case a draft gave him a cold. He never moved his bed since. Instead of a bed, there is a desk pushed to face the window. The view is nothing too spectacular since it merely overlooks the other side of fence, which is essentially just the wall of the neighbors' house. All in all, there is nothing to hide or brag about.

"I don't really spend much time worrying about what my room looks like," Emil shrugs and takes a seat on his bed. "Things don't really interest me enough to express my affinity for decorating the place I live in." This makes Leon snicker.

"You've got a weird mindset, Ice," he smiles, covering his eyes with his hand. "Oh, that's rich. I've gotta show you my place one day. I'd do it today, but, your brother looks like he'll poison me just by staring at me, you know."

Amused at Leon's reaction, Emil cracks a smile. "I know."

They fall silent for a moment until a loud metallic clanging sound bangs and echoes from the first floor. Emil and Leon look up in an instant and hear the cracking scream of someone being harassed. That someone happens to be Mathias.

" _Gyah!_  Emil! Save me!" a voice that sounds on the verge of defeat and undying agony cries.

Emil, being used to this behavior in his house, takes his time getting up. Leon eagerly follows behind him, his phone in hand in case the scene is worth recording.

By the time they come to Mathias' rescue, there is already a dented pot…and a dented cranium. A throbbing, blood-clotted bruise marks itself with a contrasting clarity to Mathias' light complexion. While no food was spilt this time around, Emil has a feeling they will have to either buy a new stew pot or settle on using one with a dent. Emil suspects the latter.

"What happened this time?" Emil casually asks his brother who is busy peeling potatoes with the precision and skill of a qualified chef. Leon, himself, is used to seeing his family cook from time to time, though the dexterity of cooks never fails to impress him; he considers himself an advocate of fine foods, after all.

"Mathias happened, that's what," Lukas gruffly answers, peeling potato after potato without batting an eyelash. He appears lost in thought, never bothering to look up from the counter to greet Leon or his own brother, though Emil has a feeling he is doing this on purpose.

Since both teenagers are left with an unsatisfied answer, they turn to Mathias who has since gotten up and off the ground. He makes his way to the freezer and rummages around the shelves, pulling out a chilled ice pack and placing it on his head. Emil recalls having to buy the ice pack just for this kind of occasion. While Mathias is recovering, Emil clicks his tongue and picks up the dented pot.

"Might have to buy a new one," he sighs and examines it. Leon, who is beside him, snickers and takes a photo.

"I can send you a new one if you want," he offers when he pockets his phone.

"Don't bother," Lukas suddenly replies, never looking up from the bowl of potatoes. All of them are peeled at this point. Now all that is left to do is to boil them and season them. It is a simple dish but one that requires just enough attention that Lukas does not have to pay his guest any mind. Even so, Leon attempts to strike up a conversation, clearly unaware of how caustic his soul mate's brother can get.

"So, Lukas," the celebrity starts off, "what do you do for a living?"

Emil nearly says something since he knows Leon already knows, but he stops himself at the last possible second when he realizes this is a conversation starter. To that, he leans back and enjoys the tense show. Luckily for them, Mathias does not appear to be in any position to jump in anytime soon.

"Pharmaceutical assistant," the pharmaceutical assistant blankly answers.

"Emil tells me you just need a little more time before you get your own clinic." Since he used a statement, Lukas does not comment. Leon then follows up with a question. "How long do you have before that happens?"

"One year," another short answer comes his way.

Leon rubs his neck. "Huh. That's not too bad." He tries a different angle of approach. "So, like, did you ever hear about me before your brother…you know…?"

"Never cared for action movies," Lukas answers before he can finish. Emil nearly scowls, but he feels oddly relieved that his brother did not simply answer with a one-worded "No."

"That's fine," Leon chuckles. Unbeknownst to amateur ears, he is faking his lighthearted brushoff. Underneath, the fact that both brothers have never heard of him before meeting Emil still baffles him; it does not necessarily anger or annoy him; he just finds it fascinating that there are still people "behind with the times," as he likes to put it.

In response to Lukas' reply, Leon adds on, "Yeah, my old man's the one who casts me for the roles. You can say I was born into this business since I do my own stunts. I actually just got back from Wang Studio after doing a filming session." He decides at this point that he has talked about himself too much. Any further, and his listeners will think he is gloating. "So, like, have you ever been to Volt?"

Emil's heart jolts. He never told Lukas or Mathias about his trip to Volt. If Leon even so much as implies he was taken there, there will be chaos and bloodshed. He sees that Lukas' back is turned and tilts his head at a slight angle towards Leon. When his friend catches his eyes, he shakes his head just enough so that Mathias cannot detect anything.

Leon understands this and hurries to see if Lukas will make anything of this question, but to both the teenagers' relief, the dead-eyed blonde replies with, "No" and leaves it at that. The conversation drops like a sinking rock until Leon gives up trying to bounce any more questions onto him. He then looks to Mathias.

"Mm, so, like, Mathias, Emil says you've got a bakery that's been in your family for some time?"

Mathias, eager to shoot his mouth off after recovering from his bruise, straightens his posture and proudly wears his iconic smile. Emil often wonders if it is possible to smile hard enough to rip one's jaws clean off. With Mathias' mouth, it seems doable.

"Yeah, it's been in the Køhler family for seven generations!" he grins with a tinge of pride.

Leon raises his eyebrows. "Cool, so does that mean you're going to be taking it over?"

Mathias booms with laughter. "Sure looks that way. My dad says I'm the best baker he's ever taught."

"You're the  _only_ baker he's ever taught," Lukas comments from the counter. Emil stifles a chuckle.

"Oh yeah," his friend just laughs if off. "I'd include you, but I'm the one who taught you. I'd still say you're the best baker  _I've_ ever taught."

Lukas keeps silent this time.

Leon clears his throat. "You think maybe I could stop by your place sometime? Just to check it out and all."

The ever-enthusiastic Mathias takes the thought as a golden opportunity. "That'd be great! Imagine what it'd be like having a celebrity coming by the bakery…! Would it be alright if we take a picture?"

"Fine by me," the celebrity shrugs. "I'm cool with it either way."

Emil catches his brother listening in on the conversation. Even while looking away, he can sense him rolling his sapphire eyes in exasperation. Mathias has always been someone who enjoys getting attention. With a celebrity visiting his family's bakery, there is no doubt that there will be an influx of customers checking the place out. Even so, Emil knows Lukas enjoys things the way they are. Back when he was still young, his brother often took him to the bakery because it was a decent place to relax in. A bustling business will change the tempo of things. Mathias will not be able to visit as frequently as he does. Lukas will revert back into the antisocial outcast that he once was—even more than presently given.

Speaking of Mathias…

"Mathias, don't you have somewhere you need to be?" Lukas suddenly asks.

His pointy-haired companion blinks, dumbfounded. "Eh?"

"Your parents must be worried sick about you. You shouldn't stay here so long on a business night. You should get back to them." Emil can detect the writhing tension in his voice as if he is holding something back. There is one too many people in the house, and Emil thinks it is high time someone cuts his visit short.

On the other end of the kitchen, Leon already has a feeling he is unwelcomed. His understands he is part of the problem, but to be polite, he copes with his friend's brother's inner hostility and waits for something to happen. They went out of their way to go shopping and cook for him, so it is the least he can to do sample what they have to offer first. Afterwards, he thinks it is best to leave. There is nothing else to do in Emil's house, and the atmosphere is starting to suffocate him.

Shortly after Lukas makes that suggestion to Mathias, the baker excuses himself from the house, bidding goodnight to everyone including Leon. His smile is no different than any other he gives to others, meaning he does not see the new addition to Emil's life as a nuisance. It is a shame the same cannot be said about Lukas, Emil thinks.

"Are ya gonna drop by tomorrow after work, Lukas?" Mathias asks before heading out the door.

"Shut up and leave," Lukas growls, pointing his silicon spoon at him. There is a threatening gleam in his eyes similar to the way a predator looks at his prey trespassing on his territory. This is his house, and he can do whatever he very well pleases. With that, Mathias takes his crude answer as a "Yes" and takes off back home.

With some fortunate timing, Lukas finishes cooking the potatoes shortly after Mathias takes his leave. Emil notices that when he sets them on a plate, there is just enough for Leon to eat without getting an upset stomach—or so he thinks.

"Here," his older brother says to him. "We already ate so there's just enough for you to eat."

Leon blinks his golden eyes and then stares at the dish sprinkled with sparse amounts of parsley, butter, and a hint of salt. The dish, while commonly cooked in Emil's household, is a considerably plain meal to offer someone with a high-class taste palette. Nevertheless, Leon takes a seat, no questions asked, and thanks his host for the food before gingerly taking his supplied fork and taking a bite.

Emil immediately notices something wrong. He knows Leon is prone to eating in Volt-situated restaurants, but he did not expect something like this to happen. His friend's face is wrought with a twisted, disgruntled expression like the potatoes in his mouth are, without a doubt, the most horrible thing he has ever put past his lips in his entire life. He almost feels offended for his brother. Lukas' cooking is not  _that_  bad. There is no reason for him to act this way.

The expression, however, lasts for barely a fraction of a second before Leon's facial expression reverts to its normal smug appearance. Emil then watches as he takes another forkful and puts it into his mouth. He chews one, then twice, and then swallows the helping whole. At this point, Lukas is intently observing him like this is a humorous little experiment with Leon as the guinea pig.

Finally, after a few bites, Lukas bothers to ask his guest if he is enjoying his meal or not.

"It's different in a good way," Leon chuckles. To Emil's ears, he sounds like he is humoring his host. There is something else afoot, but he cannot put it into a tangible explanation just yet. Leon continues to eat. "I've never had food like this before. Most of the stuff at Volt is just this fancy schmancy garbage. It's possible to get bored of gourmet food, you know."

Lukas raises his eyebrows for a brief moment. "And I'd imagine that isn't a bad thing?"

His guest shakes his head. "Not a bit, no." He takes another bite. He barely chews before swallowing it. All the while, Emil notices his brother never bothers to ask him if he wants something to drink.

The act goes on for another six minutes or so until Leon clears his plate of solid potato slices. He checks his phone for the time and softly curses before turning his attention over to the brothers.

"Hey, um, look, I need to go. My old man's going to wonder where I went. I'm really sorry about dropping in unannounced and all that. It was nice meeting you, Lukas Thank you for the food, too." He looks at Emil. "And it was nice being able to see where you live, Ice."

"Y-Yeah," Emil slightly smiles. "Thanks for stopping by, Leon."

Lukas does not say anything, not even when his brother's friend is already walking through the door, past the yard, and onto the street. When Leon is finally out of sight, they both return to their house and sit down at the table. Lukas makes a grab for Leon's plate, but Emil gets to it first.

Taking a finger and running it through the surface of the plate, Emil collects what few remnants of potatoes are left and puts it into his mouth.

It tastes absolutely awful. The potatoes are beyond salty with bits that are raw and an overdosed usage of vinegar that was masked with the parsley. It is no wonder why Leon was struggling to finish. Lukas sabotaged his dish.

"Lukas what the heck!" he cries, spitting the taste out into the sink.

"Want some coffee?" his brother nonchalantly asks.

Emil spits again. "Why didn't you ask Leon if he wanted anything to drink?" he snarls. "Now he thinks our house serves that stuff all the time! Gah! What did you—?  _Bleugh!_ " He has to spit again. Lukas, in the meantime, prepares a pot of coffee. When he recovers, he grudgingly wipes his mouth on his sleeve and curses the situation. He feels terrible for making Leon go through something like that. Being someone who grew up eating at high-end restaurants, he can only imagine what his friend was putting up with when eating those potatoes. It must have been the stuff of nightmares. At the very least, Leon is a good actor. This was one way that proved it.

"I really thought he was going to spit, too," Lukas sighs as if the event was a simple disappointment rather than a full-blown matter.

"How can you treat something like that so lightly?" Emil snaps. "He's not just a regular guy; he's a  _celebrity_. He doesn't have to put up with this kind of crap! Neither do I!"

"Coffee," Lukas says and hands his brother a steaming mug. Emil gratefully takes it and downs the entire contents, putting past the burning sensation in his throat to wash away the gut-wrenching taste on his tongue. When he finishes, the fire of his anger is still burning. He does not appreciate what his brother did to Leon. He never did anything to deserve that type of treatment. What if he happened to be a normal person? Would his brother treat him the same way? As he ponders this, he understands yet another reason why he never had friends before meeting his soul mate. He will be surprised if Leon wants to stay friends with him even after this.

"I don't appreciate what you did, Lukas," Emil grumbles, holding his mug to his lips.

"Just seeing if he was capable of being polite," his brother innocently replies. "If it were you, you might have spat it out. He has a stronger stomach than I imagined him to have."

"That doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't have done that!" Fed up with his brother's inability to deal with guests, Emil storms off upstairs. Perhaps a bath will calm him down, he thinks. He will have to find a way to explain the situation and apologize to Leon another time—assuming Leon is still his friend.

* * *

The quota is still not met. In a city full of seven million people, there are at least ten children born every day. A watch takes hours to days to make. Every single one has to be appropriately fitted for the predetermined countdown. It is a tedious process but one the watchmaker never complains about.

His hands move in nimble, yet constricted strokes across the shelves and cubbies, searching instinctively for the next gears or faces. All around him, he hears the sound of little faces ticking away as he breathes life into their cogs, watching through his glasses as the seconds turn by in his workshop. He is lost in thought. His mind is empty of everything but the surrounding task at hand. One watch after another, he works diligently on one watch to the next. As each one finishes, he takes a moment to admire them. The colors of the numbers in the face contrast those around the casing. Each one is then buffed and shined, and then, they are tucked away in a plush drawstring bag, soon to be shipped to the expecting parents and their newborn children. He repeats this process again and again, sometimes going through an entire watch without so much as blinking or breathing. His heart rate slows to a bare minimum in his relaxation and concentration. This is his life, his second love only to the person his own watch led him to. That very person is watching over him now, occasionally dropping by to check on his work and bringing him a new cup of coffee. Near the end of the day, that person rests a hand on his hunched shoulders and tells him it is time to go home. And then, the watchmaker removes his gloves, sets his lenses down, clicks off the tiny light, and shuts the door, the watches still ticking away in the background like nervous little children tucked to bed in the darkness.

"You did good today," the watchmaker's soul mate compliments him. Their fingers are entwined as fitting branches of the same roots. Together, they walk along the cobblestone pathway with ferns and mosses surrounding them, and beyond the wooden gates, they traverse into the artificial world.

* * *

Lukas Bondevik's feet take him to the entrance of a familiar sight. The glass window with "Køhler" painted on the top remains concealing a display of old-fashioned baked goods, and further down the list of sensory details is the aroma of fresh bread baking. Judging from the earthy smell and the content of butter, Lukas knows that they are making rye bread today. He planned on getting some before heading home, anyway.

Taking a deep breath, he pushes past the door with the rusted-over school bell jingling above. Mathias already knows he was coming since he has some fresh loaves of rye bread already on reserve. Lukas never aims to admit it aloud, but his friend knows him best.

"Nice to see ya, Lukas!" the wild-haired baker cheerfully greets him with a wide smile. "How was work at the clinic?"

"Fine," he blandly answers, already accustomed to Mathias' habits. He will strike up a short conversation about the customers and release him. As he sets to pay for the bread, Mathias is strangely removing his apron.

"Ma, can ya take over for me?! Lukas is here!"

Confused, Lukas raises an eyebrow and purses his lips. "What's going on?"

"Suit up, Lukas!" his old friend chuckles, shifting from the cash register to the front. "We're going on a little walk together!"

Lukas does not have the time for this. "I was hoping on getting back to prepare tonight's meal," he mutters. "I don't have time for you. And by the way, you owe me a po—"

But Mathias blows right past his façade. "Sure ya do! Ice is a big kid. He can take care of himself. It's just gonna be for a short while."

The disgruntled pharmaceutical assistant wants to protest, but Mrs. Køhler has already taken her son's place.

"How is everything, Lukas?" she smiles. "My son's not giving you any trouble, is he?"

"Oh, no trouble at all." He means to be sarcastic, but neither she nor her son detects it.

"That's wonderful." Her smile grows wider. "Hope you have fun wherever it is you're going."

"We'll be sure to," Lukas grumbles under his breath as he Mathias' overpowering, bulky arm leads him away.

When they are outside, he immediately slings his friend's arm off and begins walking in the direction of his house.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Lukas!" Mathias laughs. "We're not going that way today! I wanna have a little chat!"

Lukas snorts and flicks his sweeping bangs to the side. However many times he does this, his blonde hair always comes cascading down the right side of his face. His cross-shaped pin does little to keep the hair out of his eye.

"If I wanted to chat, I could have easily done so back there," he hisses through grinding teeth. "What do you want?"

"I just wanna talk about Ice and Leon."

Lukas nearly stops in his tracks, but he persists in order to keep Mathias from barring him. His friend is only slightly taller than him, though his long legs unfortunately help him keep up with his power walk. It does not take long for him to give up and allow the obnoxious idiot to talk.

"What about them?" he asks.

"I was thinking about what Ice must be going through last night with Leon being his soul mate an' all."

"Aren't you the straightforward one?" Lukas replies with sarcasm laced on his tongue.

"Eh? Well, I was wondering if there was going to be something more."

Lukas' eyes darken. "There isn't anything there to begin with. I don't know what you're seeing, but there is no future in that boy and my brother's relationship. It's like that with celebrities all the time: one moment, they think there's something going, the next, it all comes crashing down with the press. Ice needs to stay out of it as much as possible. I won't have him being dragged down by that good for nothing kid."

"Ah-ha!" Mathias bursts out without warning. If Lukas was ten years younger, he might have flinched. "So you  _do_ think there's something up with their relationship!"

"What is this?" the irritated blonde asks. "Are you performing a rigged interrogation on me?"

"I'd never do that!" his friend laughs too loudly for his own good. He is lucky there are few pedestrians on the roads at this hour. "But, I think I'm more worried about you." He scratches his forehead. "Leon…Leon's a good kid. He might not look like it or act like it right away, but I think he has good character."

Lukas rolls his eyes. "And the day I agree with you will be the day Eliatha has an honest mayor."

"Hey, I don't think our mayor's  _that_  dishonest."

"But you're also implying that he is."

"I—!  _Nrrgh…!_ "

Lukas hopelessly shakes his head. "How did I end up with such a buffoon?" he wonders to himself. While Mathias is recovering from his previous comeback, Lukas' eyes wander to a pet store. He stops for a moment as his eyes move to the kittens in the front. They are all incredibly tame, bred for complete submission and obedience. The same goes for the other animals as well, though all of them share one thing in common…

"It's so hard to find real ones in these parts," Mathias sighs above him. Lukas agrees. Most of the pets in the lower ends of the country are created with traits of DNA and high-technical computer encryptions. Once the personalities, colors, and various other bodily functions are analyzed, the animals are fitted into robotic bodies complete with digestive tracts, smells, and intelligence. The only crucial thing missing from these animals is that they technically are not animals at all.

After giving them an inspection, Mathias moves his gaze to his friend. "You know, when I was young, I always thought it was so sad that they were never alive. Imagine having something you've cared about all your life like it was your friend only to find that everything was predetermined and programmed. When you think of it that way, it's a bit eerie, doncha think?"

"I don't know," Lukas responds. "I've never had a pet."

"Have you ever wanted one?"

Lukas presses his lips together. "Never really thought about it. Fish are too boring. Birds are too fragile. Cats are too unappreciative. Dogs are too noisy and needy." He also adds under his breath, "Much like someone I know."

"What about a rabbit?"

"A rabbit?"

"Yeah, my aunt has one. It's cute."

Lukas thinks he can tolerate a rabbit. They can be unnecessarily stupid creatures, but at least they are not boring, noisy, or solitary.

"Rabbits…" His voice temporarily trails off. "Rabbits are fine."

"Huh." Mathias smacks his lips and looks back at the artificially fabricated kittens behind the glass. His blue eyes are lost in thought as his voice simmers down to a normal speaking volume. "That's interesting," is all he comments on and leaves it at that. From there, the two continue walking, neither one bringing up the topic of pets or of Leon again. Lukas sees this as another opportunity to remind Mathias that he still owes him a new stew pot.

* * *

Around the same time Lukas and Mathias are strolling in Circuit, two connections of a similar mind sit together at the lounge atop Wang Studio, enjoying a pot of specially brewed tea over a conversation.

"Your tea is delicious as always, Cheng," Kiku compliments him when he finishes.

"Thank you, Kiku," comes a reply with a warm smile. People who know him can tell the difference between his smile for business and his smile for his close friends and relatives. This smile is reserved for those close to him.

The Wang family's agent fingers his wristwatch, a seemingly unnecessary accessory only used for professionalism nowadays. "I'm assuming you know why I called you here?"

Cheng sets his teacup down and stares at the city below. He can see Circuit from his vantage point. After doing some research, he found out that Leon went there last night against his uncle's wishes.

"It's about Leon, isn't it?"

Kiku slightly tilts his head forward. "Yes. It's also about that boy he's been spending time with."

"Emil, you mean."

A thin-lipped line presses between the agent's lips. "Honestly, what do you know about him, Cheng? I know I've asked you this before, but I'm curious."

"He's a very mild-mannered young man," he answers. "I take it Kasem told you I met him, too?"

"Er, yes," he replies almost embarrassingly. "Is that all you know about him?"

"I don't see any reason to delve into it any further." There is a peculiar evenness to his tone. Considering Cheng is a difficult character to read, Kiku cannot tell if he is being truthful or not. In his entire life, he never doubted him for a moment; he is always honest to anyone who crosses his path, including when it comes to telling someone off. He is able to deliver his point in the politest way possible. The agent thinks this might be one reason why Leon is able to stay under control around him.

"Maybe I was wrong…" Kiku mutters. "E-Excuse my doubts. I'm really sorry."

Cheng smiles. This time, the agent cannot be sure if he is truly sincere or not. "No need to be sorry for something that isn't your fault, Kiku. It happens to the best of us."

"Perhaps so…" He means to excuse himself and return to work when Cheng's voice catches him back.

"Although…I will say this about Emil, Kiku," he says, a light piercing into his striking golden eyes. Out of all the Wangs he works for, Kiku believes Leon's favorite cousin to have the most stunning and piercing eyes in his family. They give the impression that none can escape his gaze. "…If you mean to interfere in Leon's and Emil's relationship in some way, then I suggest you back down. The way I see it, my dear cousin has finally made a friend. I've always put family before business, and this is one case where I believe it to be more personal than monetarily profitable."

Kiku, assessing the situation and underlying threat, backs down and ends his bit of the conversation. "I will keep that in mind, Cheng. This meeting was intended to be more of business than of personal matters. My apologies."

"Good," Cheng smiles, his expression teetering between the thin lines of business and sincerity, "because this is very personal to me."


	9. IX

The days go by like the overcast clouds over the Holo sky. Before leaving for school, Emil checks the weather forecast on his phone and sees that showers are expected to fall during the afternoon. The feeling is almost déjà vu, he thinks. The weather forecast also predicted showers in the afternoon on the day he met Leon, but the predictions were wrong. He wonders if today will be any different.

Lukas has already gone to work at the pharmaceutical clinic; Mathias is busy preparing at his bakery during this time; and Leon, as Emil recalls, has his hands full today with attending an important meeting and doing a late-night talk show. Yesterday, he messaged Emil with a schedule of when the program will be broadcasted, but Emil turned down the invitation, deciding that it was best that he knew about Leon Wang as a person instead of Leon Wang as a celebrity.

Is it any different, he wonders? At which point does Leon stop putting up his acting front and truly show himself to Emil? Because of all the thorough biographies, Emil has the facts of who Leon is as a physical person, but he does not know about Leon's true identity. Knowing how most of the Wangs work together in the same building, Emil wonders if his family members are even aware of who he is. Perhaps only Cheng knows, he suspects.

Nevertheless, skepticisms aside, the day passes normally as any other. Emil arrives safely at school, eats his lunch, goes to a few more classes, and returns home without a single text from anyone connected to Wang Studio. As a bonus to his ordinary day, he does not get kidnapped or encounter anyone closely resembling Kasem or Lien.

"Nothing's changed," he sighs, sitting at his desk. The bright blue light coming off from his hover lamp bobs mindlessly in the air, a feat achieved by breakthroughs in controlled magnetism. The same technology is used for Cubes, allowing them to control their direction and elevation at programmed will. While following the floating bulbs, the light slowly illuminates the dull walls in his bedroom. His room, as Leon mentioned, is incredibly plain. "Just like my life," he sighs again, running his hand through his silvery white bangs. His eyes then wander from his hover lamp to his papers.

Today is a light workload day. There are only a few weeks left before summer vacation. During that time, Leon will be doing a movie collaboration with another popular star, someone from the far east, was all he was told.

"Someone from Altorien*, I guess…?" he wonders aloud. "Someone similar to Leon, maybe?"

He digs through his phone and opens up a search page. Though this sort of compellation never took ahold of him in the past, he searches through any possible actors that might resemble Leon in some way. The results bring him to a single candidate by the name of Im Yong Soo, a young actor of twenty years of age. Like Leon, he, too, is a singer and pop star sensation; more importantly, he is a popular actor in soap operas, starring and succeeding the leading roles of whatever part he plays. Reading further down in his biography, Emil sees that this will be his first time casting in a big-screen movie. With two actors from similar backgrounds, the sheltered college student can only imagine how this will play when the shooting actually starts.

* * *

The weather is fair in Trip district, perfect for landing. Like the day Emil and Leon met, the weather forecast predictions are wrong.

Leon and his personal agent, Kiku, are waiting outside of the terminal guarded casually by Kasem. For a meeting like this, they are all he needs to feel secure. This way, it draws less attention, too. In any case, there is little to worry about with Leon's face disguised with a large hoodie, courtesy of his cousin's designer line.

"Looks like it's going to be a good one today." The young pop star sticks his tongue out and makes a raspberry noise in between his puckered lips. Kiku refrains from twitching his eyebrow, reminding himself to get used to this type of behavior. "Wish there were thunderstorms or something. That would've been interesting, right?"

Kiku clears his throat. "I don't think the chance of there being thunderstorms during this time of the year is very likely," he tells his boss's son. Behind him, Kasem is absentmindedly staring out of the window and watching one of the planes move towards the runway. A private jet plane from Altorien is scheduled to land in roughly seven minutes. Shortly after that, another flight will prepare to take off in the westerly direction. Being that Holo is the technological capital of Eliatha, there are several representatives of business companies from all over the world traveling on business expenses.

Trip, like every other district within the city of Holo, has a specialized area of emphasis. In its case, it is the district of business management. There are many venues as well as company buildings set up in towers, and there are so many buildings, in fact, that it surpasses the number of skyscrapers of every other district combined. Because of the high number of representatives and international shipping, the mayor chose to have the new airport built in Trip district. Additionally, to promote venues, the city was ordered to erect hotels and attractions to entertain the travelers. It is not uncommon for tourists visiting Holo to never have to leave Trip district at all, as a result.

Leon, himself, has been to Trip district a few times for his own entertainment. Before Cheng took charge of Neon district, he used to follow his cousin to observe his business negotiations. Sometimes, Cheng is sent to Trip in order to seal a contract deal with electronic appliances with overseas manufacturers over Altorien. Other times, he asks for an increase in shares of profits. However many times Leon watches him, though, one thing remains the same: Cheng always gets what he wanted. By sincere means or by subtle force, Cheng is a master of negotiations. He knows exactly what to say and how to act in order to get the main share of the profits. What fascinates Leon most of all is that his cousin can even twist his words to make other believe the deal they strike are mutually beneficial. Only after assessing the long-term effects do they realize how Cheng cleverly squeezes them dry, all while wearing a polite smile on his business-like face. The admiration Leon feels for Cheng is one of the many reasons why he tolerates his presence. While he looks up to his cousin for familial support, Cheng is equally resourceful in business tactics, something Leon wishes to master. If he can twist his words the way his cousin does, then everything will be able to go his way, too. He will also be able to get what he wants—Emil included.

"Ah." Kiku looks up at the electronic display across the hall, catching Leon's attention to his eyes. "The flight's landed."

Leon, not one to look forward to this collaboration, dulls his eyes in a half-conscious look and reads the newest update. The private jet from Altorien has just grounded on Eliatha soil. Yong Soo will be arriving out of the terminal at any moment.

"Why the fuck do we have to be here?" Leon snarls at Kiku. He actually knows the answer fully well; it is because Yao wants him to make a good representative of his company. It is polite to greet his guests personally, though Leon can care less. Still, he asks the question to see what sort of ways Kiku will twist the facts.

"It is good for representation," Kiku answers much to Leon's expectations. Leon can tell he is holding himself back from any slips about representing Yao's company and not Leon.

"You mean it's good for my old man," Leon corrects him.

Kiku lowers his eyebrows. "I didn't say that. Your father wanted you to—"

"Bullshit about that," the young actor snorts. "And don't call him my father. I thought I told you never to use that word around me."

His head lowering in a manner of his own culture's customs, Kiku apologizes to his boss's son and promises to watch himself in the future. All the while as this is happening, Kasem is still absentmindedly staring at the plane headed for the west. With the jet plane now landed and unloading its luggage and passengers, the larger plane carrying shipments and tourists is starting to make its way to the runway.

"Leon, look at this," he says with a distant smile. "This one's going to the west."

To humor him, Leon goes over and stares out the window. There are no words painted on either side of the plane, but there is a familiar picture of a green, flying rabbit on the tail. It must be headed for Brysogwig**, a kingdom out in the west. The green winged rabbit signifies that the airline belongs to Kirkland Distributors, a company known for making large collaborations with Holo in everything ranging from electronics to its own chain of foods. While not very prominent in its electronics, it makes up for its quality in food brands. Leon has always wanted to travel to Brysogwig and see if the food is really as bad as everyone claims it to be, just for the experience and the stories if nothing else.

"One day," he barely mutters aloud.

"Ooh, look there!" Kasem excitedly points. He directs Leon's attention to a plane that is already taking off in the westward direction. Again, there are no words on the plane, but one look at the various crosses and Leon can tell that the plane is a commercial airline from a large distributor of designs and electronics.

"That one's from Crodinia***, Kasem," Leon tells him. "You can tell because of those crosses. And the one that's taking off right now is going to Brysogwig."

His distant relative chuckles. "You know a lot about this kind of stuff."

"That's because I used to hang out with Cheng all the time. You know…before he took charge of Neon and all."

Kasem nods.

"He knows all sorts of things about international affairs. Funny how he went from Trip to Neon. I guess if he's happy, that's alright with me."

Again, Kasem nods.

Before they can continue looking at the other planes, the sound of Kiku clearing his throat turns their heads back towards the terminal.

"Kasem, you're here to make sure nothing happens to Leon," the uptight agent reminds him. "Family or not, we didn't hire you to sightsee with him."

"Er, right, I forgot." The easygoing bodyguard scratches his messy brown hair and returns to position. In all the years Leon has known him, he can hardly blame him for wanting to distract himself from the task at hand. Standing around like a constipated cardboard cutout can be excruciatingly boring.

However, it appears that Kiku was right to make the call of straightening out because as soon as they settle down, three large figures with zany bright-colored suits exit out of the terminal first. With narrowing amber eyes, Leon notices the person they are guarding is nearly as tall as his bodyguards—if anyone can even bear to call tall, muscular men with day-glow orange tuxedos bodyguards.

The person in the center, Leon notices through the loose cracks of the brightly colored clothes, is sporting all the latest gadgets freshly released from Holo's manufacturing companies, many of which are branches of Wang Studio. Accessories such as the band watch he is wearing are not even out on the Holo market yet. The dark glasses perched lightly on the bridge of his nose are state of the art chrome-cased and designed for the sharpest experience in optical web surfing. Once again, this has not been released outside of the country yet, but here this person is, donning these overly expensive and high-tech gadgets like a crow wearing peacock feathers. To make matters worse—

"Leon!"

The young star holds back from tightening his fists in case one of the bodyguards is watching. He tells himself to tolerate him just enough to leave the airport. Once that part is done, he will finally be free of this torment if not for a little while longer.

"'Sup, Yong Soo?" he greets the Altorienese celebrity with a lift of his lips and a wave of his hand. Nothing too dramatic or unenthusiastic.

"Man, when was the last time I saw you?" Yong Soo chuckles, looking down at his future collaborator. "It was at that one awards ceremony…"

"Thread Awards," Leon automatically answers, referring to the acting awards based on Internet voting popularity.

"Right, right!" he laughs a little too loudly. His obnoxious behavior vaguely reminds Leon of someone he recently met, but he cannot be too sure who he has in mind. "So how's everything going?"

"Pretty good," Leon replies with an even smile; it is the kind of smile he gives people when he cannot give a damn about their pathetic existence. "And what about you? I heard you finished up another series, didn't you? How'd that one do?"

Right after he finishes the question, Yong Soo puffs his chest outward like a proud dog bringing a stick to its owner. If only that were the case, Leon thinks in the back of his head. "Top of the charts as always," he boasts. "I was so good, the studio asked me to do another soap with him, but then this deal came up, and you know how it is. I've always been looking forward to working with you, Leon."

"Peh, you give me too much credit, man," Leon grins with his perfectly white teeth baring. Unbeknownst to everyone other than Cheng (who is not even here), he expresses his smile with an inner hostility and keeps him from chewing on his bottom lip clean off. "So, like, I know your agent's cool with you doing this, but you're really okay working with me?"

"Of course!" Yong Soo beams, completely unaware of the growing cloud of disregard looming over Leon's aura.

Just as Leon is about to come back with a remark, Kiku cuts in and speaks. "Im Yong Soo, it's nice to have you in Eliatha again," he says with an equally polite smile akin to Cheng's mannerism. "I'm sorry to inform you that Yao cannot be here to greet you into our city, but please make yourself comfortable during your stay."

"No need to do that, Honda," Yong Soo widely smiles at the agent. "I'm gonna be here a while so I'm going to make the best of it." He looks over at Leon. "Leon, here, is going to show me all the ropes, right?"

"Don't count on it," Leon smirks. "There's so much to see. Even if we weren't doing the movie shoot, there's not enough time to see everything." He pauses. "Plus with those new glasses of yours, you can just look up places yourself, right?"

At the mention of his glasses, Yong Soo takes them off and exposes his soft brown eyes. There is nothing too peculiar about them, but there is little significance, either. Unlike Yong Soo, the Wangs are able to captivate others with their magnificent golden eyes. It is a physical trait that Leon is rather proud of—that and his additional training in martial arts. Yong Soo, he knows, is decently muscular but only for looks, not for stunts.

"You know what these things are?" the Altorienese actor stares at Leon.

Leon, in turn, places his hands defiantly on his hips in a wide, exposed stance. He means to show that he is not afraid of Yong Soo's towering height even when, by comparison at nearly a head taller, Yong Soo is almost as tall as Cheng.

"Yeah, in fact, I recognize a lot of the getup you're wearing. Those are part of a model of chrome-cased glasses that aren't even out of the country market yet. The band watch you're wearing is supposed to be part of a secret blueprint that isn't even out of the district yet. And don't get me fucking started on your clothes. Those are supposed to be Cherry Pink clothes. My cousin designs outfits for them, and she puts a lot of work into each one. Those rags you're wearing are knock-offs. Shit, your entire  _body_  is a walking knock-off."

…Or so Leon wants to say. Instead, he remains silent and plays dumb to save himself the trouble of getting scolded later. Who knows? Perhaps Yong Soo, himself, does not know he is wearing several knock-offs. That will make exposing him in the future all the more fun. So, instead, he takes a deep breath and puts on his blank face.

"No. I just thought that maybe they'd have an additional function to them or something," he shrugs. "Just a hunch."

Yong Soo smirks. Leon smirks, too. He has the pretentious Altorienese hooked like a minnow.

"I didn't think you'd know what these were," he haughtily scoffs, twirling one of the ends in his fingers. "These are state of the art chrome-cased glasses. They're built like phones, but they can display a hundred times more pixels than holograms. They can even detect movements in your eyes to assess what you're looking for."

"How innovative," Leon monotonously says.

Kiku clears his throat. All the while, the bodyguards with bright suits are staring down the singular Kasem like he is a plaything. Leon does not know much about the zany men's abilities, but he hopes they know better than to think poorly of his bodyguard. Kasem is one of the men in charge of his stunts in his movies, after all. Anyone who sees him fight will do well to remember that.

"Yong Soo, if I may direct your attention to the purpose of your visit," the agent begins, "you're going to be staying with us at Wang Studio for the length of the movie shoot."

Although he already knows this, Leon still curses in his head, wishing he can cross his arms and spit. The thought of sleeping under the same roof as that noisy rave-loving Altorienese celebrity makes his teeth grind. His taste in music and fashion were always one step behind too pompous in addition to everything else.

"Got that right!" Yong Soo beams like an energetic child. "I've always wanted to see what kind of hospitality they've got over there! I get a penthouse suite, right?"

Kiku's brow nearly furrows, but he restrains himself and adjusts his position with a light shift. "There are no suites on the top floor, I'm afraid. As with many of his buildings, the entire top floor is reserved for Yao Wang and his top executives."

Yong Soo smirks to that. "Top executives?" he chuckles. "You mean his family members, right?"

"Some, but not all," Kiku clarifies.

This practice is common among family businesses. Having no soul mate or children of his own, Yao adopted Leon when he was not even a year old. His biological parents, close friends and business partners of Yao, were killed in an unfortunate accident that left him an orphan. It was under his parents' will that should anything happen to them, Leon was to be placed under Yao's full care as his guardian. However, as generous of a thing that was, it was all a front in the name of business. Of course, since they did not share blood, Yao never treated Leon like his son; instead, he raised him to be the spitting image of what an ideal child should be: intelligent, behaved, and picture-perfect media material.

The first few years went by comfortably and smoothly. As a child, Leon obeyed his guardian without a word of protest, day by day blissfully unaware of what Yao was setting him up to become. It was around the time he was ten years old when Leon grew cognizant of his role. He noticed how Yao never gave him love the way his cousin's parents would. Where his cousins were given the freedom to choose what they wanted to do, Leon was stuck learning how to answer to interviews and training in rigorous stunt programs. Even after everyone grew up and found jobs within Wang Studio, they did it because they wanted to, not because they were trapped in a cage with no room to spread their wings.

Athletics and stardom aside, Yao made sure Leon was well-learnt in his academic studies. Because of that, Leon never attended school. Not even once. His only perception of being able to attend a school with students around his age was through television programs or in the stories he read. He never had a true friend growing up because of that, always weighed down by his guardian, doted on by his cousins to make up for his lack of real family, and surrounded constantly by cameras or bodyguards. It was not long before one day, Leon finally decided to break free of his bubble and start learning more about the world around him. He did not want this kind of life. He was different. He had one thing that many of his relatives did not have: a watch.

The watch was the one thing that kept Leon hoping. He knew that none of the people he affiliated himself with were bound to be his soul mate. She was out there. He knew it. Some called it fate. Others called it predetermined luck. Call it whatever they wanted to, but to Leon, he only knew that this is what his life had in store for him. And so, little by little, almost undetectable to even his closest family members, he began to rebel. He started to sneak out of his rooms. He learned the business tongues. He learned how to negotiate with adults three times his age to work his way around the systems. With his expansive hunger for knowledge, he began to grow until there was nothing left that he could not consume. The world that he was sheltered and prepared for became his, and once the numbers on his watch all stopped at their zeros, he would no longer need anything else.

Or so he thought.

Emil Steilsson: an ordinary individual with no outstanding talents, no recognizable names, no important family members, no heaping wealth, no fascinating qualities, and most of all, a guy. Leon supposes he should have been more shocked when he finally met his soul mate. Emil is nothing like what he originally envisioned out of his significant other. Everything about them is as different and mirrored as fire and ice. They do not even compliment one another in every aspect. It is like the ones in charge of predetermined their fates never wanted them to be happy. Still, all the same, Leon knows that the watches never lie. Whatever comes of the future is his to decide, and the route he hopes to take will lead him down one where they ultimately both find closure.

But, for now, Leon pushes his plans aside to focus on what is in front of him. Yong Soo is asking several questions about where to eat and go clubbing. He proposes they go to Retro or Neon together, though Kiku quickly declines, telling him those places are not ideal for a celebrity to be wandering around in public. While they are making their way to the front of the airport, Kasem makes a comment about the color of Yong Soo's bodyguards' suits. Leon snickers.

"They're really flashy, aren't they?" he chuckles. "If they ever get lost, it won't be hard to track them down."

"Right?" Kasem smiles.

"…So I was thinking that perhaps when you settle down, I'll schedule an appointment for you to meet with Yao," Kiku suggests to the Altorienese actor.

Yong Soo, however, waves his hand. "No need, Honda. I can just make a visit whenever I want. It's no big deal, right?"

Kiku blinks. "Forgive me for being ignorant of any customs you might have, but it is polite to adjust to your superior's schedules here. Who do you think signed you on this contract?"

"And who's the one who agreed?" Yong Soo asked back. "If I didn't sign up for this, someone else would have done it. Who else do you know who's perfect for this role?"

"Apologies." The agent holds back a sigh and shifts through some messages on his phone. Leon and Kasem can tell he is trying his best to keep his emotions in check. All of them want to get through Yong Soo's visit without too much disruption to their lives. That being said, there is little to be guaranteed, considering how unpredictable the celebrity gets. His wardrobe, alone, is enough to convince someone of that speculation.

The group manages to get through to the luggage check out when suddenly, a bright white flash goes off. Someone screams, and in an instant, the bodyguards are surrounding Yong Soo on all sides. Kasem, on the other hand, is already hovering over Leon and moving along the edges of the walls.

"Fuck," Leon curses under his breath. "Don't tell me…"

"It's him!" someone squeals from the other side of the luggage check out. "Im Yong Soo!"

There is already a large crowd of women rushing to the trio of colorful bodyguards. How security managed to let them all slip through is unknown, but what Leon does know is that he cannot afford to be seen here, either.

"Leon, we need to go," Kiku hastily snaps as he follows closely behind.

"Don't need to tell me that now, man," Leon grunts. "Shit. Who in the world leaked his location?"

"We'll find that out later, Leon," Kiku pants, struggling to keep up with the other two. Being someone who is always sitting at a desk, his athletic abilities are not up to par. "I'm too old for this…"

"Step it up, Kiku!" Leon snaps just loud enough for the agent to hear him. "We're getting out of here with you!"

It is a good thing Yong Soo's bodyguards are easily distinguishable. With Im Yong Soo clearly in the center of them, the fans are too busy focusing their attention on them. Leon, Kasem, and Kiku are able to slip away without any trouble at hand. Eventually, they make it out of the airport towards the front area. With Leon wearing a large hood to conceal his face, he does not have to worry about security or fans recognizing him. As for Yong Soo, Kiku is forced to make an urgent call to Wang Studio.

"Yes, I'm really sorry about this," Kiku apologizes over the phone while Leon and Kasem go to a nearby noodle shop. Oddly enough, for an airport food court, the food is refreshingly tasty. While Kasem is eating, Leon talks between mouthfuls of noodles and mushrooms.

"What's he thinking apologizing to that geezer like that?" he frowns. "It's not his fault the fans started to rampage here in the airport. Geez." He pauses to drink some soup. "It's no wonder his blood pressure's so high. I bet he gets worked to death like that, just worrying about useless shit all the time."

Kasem agrees. "It's just the way he was brought up. Lien notices that, too."

"It's not good for anyone. It's annoying, even."

"Are you going to tell that to him?"

Leon scoffs. " _Psh._ Knowing him, that'd just make him worry even more.

"…Understood, Mr. Wang," Kiku says with a bow despite there being no one in front of him. "I will make sure he arrives safely. Yes. I will. Goodbye." He hangs up and, with a sigh, approaches Leon and Kasem who are finished with their noodles.

"What'd my old man say?" Leon asks after wiping his mouth.

Clearly troubled by the incident, Kiku stops to gather himself together and wipes his forehead with a handkerchief. "Your guardian wants us to arrive back at the studio with Yong Soo in hand."

"Give me a break!" Leon loudly groans. He slowly slips underneath the table until even the tip of his hood disappears. "I have shit I need to do! This is the last thing I want to be doing right now! You can't just tell Yong Soo to pick up a cab or something?"

Kiku's lifeless brown eyes thin. "That's not the case. If Yong Soo takes a taxi instead of a properly labeled car, who knows what will happen to him?"

"Don't worry about it. Those dudes in the suits will take good care of him—more or less. I wasn't too sure about the bald one. He looks a little out of place—"

"Leon." Kiku stretches out the length of his name. "This is important. He's going to be your acting partner for the next six months or so. You're going to have to get used to this."

The young actor does not enjoy his agent's tone. It reminds him of an ill cross between Yao and Cheng, one person whom he despises and another whom he respects. This is precisely why he cannot bring himself to get close to Kiku on a personal level, family or not.

"You've got such a stick up your ass, you know that?" Leon sneers and gets up. "C'mon, Kasem. Let's go back to the hotel.  _Honda_ , here, can take care of things himself. He apologized, so it must be, like, his fault, right?"

"Er…yes?" Kasem answers, not sure whether to side with his relative or his boss' agent.

Kiku, getting farther away as the other two continue to walk, is slowly fuming. "If you don't get back here right now, I'm going to tell your father."

Just then, Leon pauses and turns on his heel, a deadly glow in his golden eyes. When he speaks, his voice is so dangerously low that the air around him practically freezes in an icy envelopment. "What the fuck did you say?"

Realizing his mistake, Kiku means to apologize, but he finds himself in a tough spot. He meant to make a light threat to follow his boss' orders, but by referring to Yao as Leon's father is going against Leon's orders. He cannot find it in himself to act, so instead, he remains quiet.

"I was talking to you,  _Honda_ ," Leon snarls, walking back to the agent. Kasem is sure to stay at a reasonable distance between him. Whenever Leon addresses those close to him by their last name, he knows he means business.

Then, out of their surprise, Leon snags Kiku by the tie. There is little anyone can do to intervene. Leon is far stronger than Kiku, and if the agent makes a move, he can lose his job. Kasem, on the other hand, is only sworn to protect his relative so he has few choices to act on.

"I asked you a damn question, Honda," Leon speaks in a cold voice. His eyes are frosted over like ice despite his eyes blazing with a bright golden fire. His irises fixate into Kiku's lightless orbs, bringing an unsettling fear into his nerves.

"I-I just meant that if you go against your guardian's wishes—"

"No," Leon sharply snaps. "The thing you said before. The one about a certain  _father?_ "

Kiku presses his lips together until they turn white from the lack of circulation. "Please, Leon, don't make a scene here."

The young actor raises his eyebrows. "A scene? A scene, you say? I am Leon Wang. I can make whatever kind of scene I want, just like that damn Yong Soo did. You want me to really make a scene? I can show you."

Kasem finally cuts in. "Leon, stop this," he speaks in a firm tone unlike his usual character. "You're going to cause trouble that could've been prevented. Don't do this right now."

With Kasem as the acting voice of reason, Leon calms down a little and loosens his grip on Kiku's tie. The agent sputters a soft cough when his windpipe is given enough room to breathe.

"Kiku," Kasem says to the agent, "I'm sure Yong Soo will be fine. We can go sort this out with Yao another time, but right now, I think we're all tired. We all woke up early to meet Yong Soo, and I don't think all of us are in the best of moods right now, wouldn't you say so?"

"Yes," he immediately answers. "I'll just take care of this later." He means to continue when he changes his mind. "Actually, you two go on ahead. I'll make sure Yong Soo knows where he needs to go."

Kasem blinks. "You sure, Kiku?"

"I'm sure." He stares into Leon's still alight golden eyes. "Leon, do you think you can let me go?"

The celebrity lets out a huff of hot air before completely releasing his hold. His arm snaps back to his side as he turns around and storms out of the airport. "Come on, Kasem. We're really going this time."

"Right, Leon," Kasem replies and trails after him, leaving the befuddled agent left to clean up the mess he was not responsible for.

* * *

"Eh? No way! Are you serious about that?"

"Totally serious."

A few minutes after returning to Volt District, Leon called Mei, his cousin responsible for making designs for Blossoms and Cherry Pink. Upon informing her about the details, she was not happy about her designs getting bootlegged.

"And you're sure Yong Soo's the one wearing them?" she groans over the phone.

"I'm sure." Leon yawns as he makes himself comfortable on his bed. Overhead, the wallpaper is spawning red bubbles of light. There are also various hover lamps in different shades of colors floating in the unoccupied spaces. When the lights turn red to match his wallpaper, he remembers another detail. "Oh yeah, and like, get this: instead of Cherry Pink with the pink cherry logo, it was, like, this slice of some other fruit. It was red."

"Red?" Mei echoes. "What kind of fruit was it?"

"I really don't know," Leon frowns. "I didn't get a good look at it. It kind of looked like an orange, but it wasn't, you know."

"Oh." The speaker goes silent. "Well, when you see Yong So again, give him a piece of my mind, okay?"

That brings a smile to his tired face. Leave it to one of his cousins to give him a smile when he needs it most. "I'll do that. Yong Soo's got a bunch of other bootlegs things from Yao's companies, too. Some of them aren't even on the market yet. I don't know if he's going to wear those around him, but if he does, there's going to be some major suing happening."

Mei sighs. "And that will be fun, won't it?"

"Yup." Both of them are sarcastic. "…Hey, so, like, when do you think you're going to be able to visit again?"

"Holo? I really don't know. It's busy right now. Summer's coming, you know. There's a demand for a new line of clothing I need to finish. The earliest I can get done is in another two months, and that's being optimistic."

Leon sighs. "At least you got to choose that lifestyle. I'm just stuck here with Yong Soo and Yao."

"They're not that bad, Leon. Lot's of girls go crazy for Yong Soo. Oh! That reminds me!" Her sudden shift in tone causes Leon to straighten his posture just a bit. "Hey, didn't you say your numbers were stopping really soon?"

He stops. "Uh…"

"Did they stop yet?" his cousin persists. "I'm sure they were supposed to stop before you turned twenty. I remember that much. So did they stop yet? Did they? Did you find your soul mate?"

Leon forces a smile to help convey his tone against the overwhelming storm of questions. "If I did, Yao would have been all over her. The entire world would've known by now, don't you think?"

"Oh…" Mei's voice falls with disappointment. "I really want to meet her. I bet she's really pretty."

"Yeah." His voice starts to trail off. "Pretty…"

"And when you meet her, I can dress her up in all sorts of clothes. I bet she's like a model type. Creamy skin, nice eyes, a fun personality…"

"Uh huh." At this point, Leon is hardly paying any more attention. Emil is not the ideal soul mate Mei imagines him to be, the most important factor being that he is not even a girl. When the time comes that he introduces them, what will she think? Heck, what will any of them think?

Leon bites his lips at the thought. Cheng accepts the fact well enough, but it is only because Leon knew he would accept it that he told him the truth to begin with. He knows Yao will go ballistic. Having a guy—a nobody at that—being his soul mate will ruin his media image. Kiku will accept it in time, but it will only be a matter of time before Yao squeezes the truth out of him. Lien and Kasem are sure to take the news rather well, but he knows Yao will also wring their tongues until they tell him about Emil. As for Mei, she will undoubtedly tell the entire world when she finds out. She is the last person who needs to know. So, Leon chooses to keep quiet about this until he can sort things out with Emil.

"Hello?" Mei's voice cuts into his processing mind. "Leon, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I am," he says, his eyes half-glazed over in a daze. His room has shifted from a dark red to a deep blue color, the same shade of blue, in fact, as the overhead holograms back at Teal. He wonders if Emil still remembers the meal they had together.

"Oh. So, anyway, I was thinking that maybe when you meet your soul mate, you can bring her over here and get her to model for me."

Leon raises a brow. "What makes you think she wants to do that?"

"It's every girl's dream to be a model of mine, silly," she giggles. "Whoever your girl's going to be, she's definitely going to be pretty enough for modeling, doncha think so?"

"Oh, I know so," he smirks, thinking about when he set Lien and Kasem to drag Emil to Volt. The photos came out decently enough. In fact, he recently received a call from the studios asking if Emil could do a photo shoot in three weeks. He will have to remember that call for later.

As he is running out of things to say, to his relief, Mei gets a call from a client. "Ooh, I have to take this Leon. I'll call you back some other time, okay?"

"Yeah. Nice talking with you, Mei." A quick farewell later, his cousin hangs up the phone and returns to work. Tired from having to wake up to go to the airport, Leon flops over on his bed and stretches his limbs. The animated wallpaper in his room melts into a holographic aurora of cool colors, washed-over blues, opalescent purples, and aqua-tinted greens. As he continues to stare at the colors, his eyes start to focus on the pale purples. The shades sometimes turn into the color of Emil's lavender eyes, and his mind wanders to how he must be doing.

"He's either at school or home, I bet," he thinks aloud and checks his phone. There is a message from Kiku, telling him Yong Soo has safely arrived at Wang Studio—but not before making a public scene and causing media stations to flock over to him.

"Fucking guy," he murmurs and clicks his phone off. He has a feeling that Yong Soo was actually the one who dropped the hint he was coming over to Holo. Knowing how much attention he enjoys getting, it only makes sense; none of his agents would have agreed to let him make a public announcement.

Sure enough, to confirm Leon's suspicions, he gets a call from his guardian. He sighs, knowing he has to answer it, and holds his phone back to his ear. "What now, old man?"

"Yong Soo is here, Leon," his guardian's snappy voice speaks over the phone. "I want you to come up to my office so we can discuss business matters."

Leon clenches his teeth in annoyance. "What business?" he snaps. "That's your end of the deal. Your job is to organize the things that we go to, not to tell us what actions will rake in publicity. Speaking of publicity, Kiku told you what happened at the airport, right?"

"He did," Yao speaks in a flat tone of concern about Yong Soo. "It's amazing that Altorienese is a year older than you, but that's not what's important right now. I'm talking about the plans for the movie. There's been some changes."

The actor kicks his feet together until the bottoms of his soles are sore. "What changes? Is one of us supposed to die in the script?"

"No, not that." His guardian lets out a deep sigh. "Yong Soo was supposed to be a supporting actor to your starring role."

"No, shit. I know that."

"Well, his agents have gone through the process with the studio. They want Yong Soo to co-star with you. It's either that, make you the supporting character, or cut the deal altogether."

"Bull. Shit." Leon sits up. His voice rises. "Tell him I'm not doing it."

There is a pause in the conversation. Yao must be thinking of what to say to his son. "Leon, we've already put a lot of money into this film because of the commercial advertisements and special effects drafting. Lots of work already went into rewriting the script. If you back out, then we'll be out of a lot of heta."

Leon's golden eyes glaze over. "So we're talking already a starting budget of, like, a few million heta blown?"

"A little more than you'd think, yes."

Leon curses. "So I can't back out."

"No."

"Then…" Leon moves his fallen bangs back from his eyes. "Fine, I'll just co-star with him. There's no way I'm going to be a supporting actor."

"Alright. Then you're going to have to tell that to Yong Soo and his agent that when you get here."

The teenager softly curses before getting onto his feet. "I'm coming. Is he there right now?"

"He's settling in his room still. Better to arrive first."

"Right, right." Cheng always tells him the first to arrive makes the first impression; he always means to make a good one. So, without further ado, he slips on his jacket and heads out of his room. There are little hovering Cubes surrounding the entrance to his room despite the hall already being heavily guarded by security. Ever since Yao found out about his second escape, security has been tighter than usual. It will take a little more effort, but he will still be able to crack the security system if he ever wants to privately meet Emil.

Leon glides past the other occupants on his floor and steps into the personal elevator. When he gets to the top, he can already see Lien in her secretary attire. Leon's eyes narrow in annoyance at the way his guardian makes her dress. He thinks his cousin looks better with a suit than a skirt.

"Hi, Leon," she says to him in a polite tone. "Yao's waiting for you in his office."

"I know," he yawns. "And Yong Soo?"

Her eyes move to her computer screen. "I contacted the security department, and they said he's still in his room. It might be a few minutes."

"Fantastic," he sarcastically responds. "I've got all the time in the world." To avoid having to confront Yao just yet, he takes out his personal phone and quickly sends a message to Emil.

**Leon: how r u doing?**

**Emil: Fine.**

The celebrity smirks. He finds it amusing how his friend responds with the typical one-worded response. As if he expects him to open out his heart to him.

**Leon: u free today?**

It takes Emil around two minutes to respond, a little longer than the celebrity prefers to wait for a reply.

**Emil: Why ask me? You said you're supposed to do a meeting and night show.**

"So he remembers that," he mutters under his breath.

**Leon: r u gonna watch it? the show I mean**

**Emil: No.**

Leon frowns at how instant that respond comes, but then, another message follows.

**Emil: I want to know you for who you are as a person.**

**Emil: Not as a celebrity.**

"Cute," Leon chuckles. From the corner of his eye, he notices Lien briefly looking up from her desk at him. "It's nothing," he amusingly tells her. "Just something a friend sent me." He types up a response.

**Leon: u really want to know the real me?**

Another pause ensues. This one is even longer than the previous waiting periods.

**Emil: Yes.**

A faint smile cracks on Leon's lips. There is something about how plain and innocent Emil is that makes him want to be around him. Deep down, he perceives this way of thinking to be cruel and cold of him, but after being barred from having friends for so long, it is the true, genuine way he sees his dear soul mate. On that mindset, his thumbs tap another message.

**Leon: when does ur summer vacation start?**

A quick delay later, a message pops up in his inbox.

**Emil: Three weeks.**

It is longer of a wait than Leon wants, but he thinks by then, any suspicions of hanging around Emil will die down. Plus, he will have learned to adapt to Yong Soo's lifestyle. On top of that, there are three weeks before the agency wants to see Emil again for another photo shoot. If he plays his cards correctly, there might be a chance for another date.

As he is about to type up a reply, the elevator chimes. He thinks that must be Yong Soo and his agent arriving for the meeting. Moving towards Yao's office, he types up a quick response after mentally searching through his schedule. Between now and the rest of the summer, the moments they will be able to spend with one another will be rare.

**Leon: gotta go**

**Leon: meetings starting**

**Leon: wait for a call**

**Leon: ill take you out on another date**


	10. X

Finals week comes and goes. The days grow longer, and the air increases in humidity and temperature. Being unaccustomed to the heat, beads of sweat trickle down Emil's forehead as he returns home from his last test. His brother is at work at this hour, but on this final day of the school year, he arrives at his front door with an inviting scent of fresh breads coming to greet him. The aroma is sweeter than he expects it to be, and as he enters the kitchen, Mathias is already making himself at home, fiddling with the oven and dusting the flour off his hands.

"Hi, Ice!" His loud, overbearing voice snaps Emil back from his heat-dazed senses and cuts deep into his ears. Like any other time Mathias visits, it feels like he is truly home.

"Hi, Mathias," he replies back. Knowing that his brother's other is here, he makes a quick stop to his room to set down his testing materials before taking a seat at the dining table.

"Lukas told me your last finals were today," Mathias tells him. "How'd you think you did?"

"Alright, I guess," Emil answers. His breath is still decently short from breathing more water vapor than clean air.

"No! Don't tell me that!" Mathias laughs with a booming voice. "Yer supposed ta say 'I did good! I aced that test!' or something like that! Ya take after yer brother, after all, Ice."

Emil wipes a layer of sweat from his forehead with a napkin. "Meaning…?"

"Meaning yer smart," his brother's soul mate finishes. "So don't let your smarts go to waste." He pauses as if his own "smarts" are trying to process information. "Of course, yer not as smart as  _I_ am, but I'm just saying."

"Oh, of course." Emil rolls his eyes and gets up to fetch a glass of water. At this point, the breads baking in the oven are finished. Leave it to Mathias to know exactly when Emil will come home at just the right time to eat fresh breads. "What did you bake today?" he asks when he sits back down.

A large childlike grin spreads across the baker's face. "It's something I've been trying to work on for a while. I think Lukas is going to like this." When he opens the oven and takes the breads out, Emil sees that there are little crescent-like rolls puffed up with two long ears and little bun-shaped tails. He recognizes the intended shape right away.

"Rabbits?" The tops are baked to a delicate golden brown as expected of a devoted baker. They are even braided in such a way that when they finish baking, the edges puff out to take the shapes of eyes and a curved mouth.

"Bunnies!" Mathias smiles in his addicting manner. "We thought it sounded cuter to market them off as bunny buns."

"Bunny buns…?" Emil softly echoes. The name is annoyingly cute, something he is not entirely sure he can go along with. He wonders how his brother will respond when he comes back from work. While his mind is still preoccupied with what Lukas' reaction will be, Mathias sets the tray on a baking rack to let them cool. A tantalizingly sweet smell of butter and yeast drifts into Emil's nostrils and makes his stomach growl. He has not eaten anything since breakfast, and his last tests have used up all his brainpower and energy.

"I think they're going to be a hit this summer," Mathias continues to talk. "We're still settling on what we're going to do with the filling or if we should just given them a variety. Maybe an exclusive flavor or something…"

Emil stares at the bunny buns. "I think they're going to sell with whatever you put in them," he says. Personally, he prefers plain bread to the sweets his brother enjoys, but his opinion is not quite on par with the rest of the customers. All his life, he has enjoyed the plain variations of anything ranging from breads to even the seasonings in his meats. Lukas, on the other hand, while never openly accepting anything other than the Køhlers' breads, is something of a sweets advocate despite his outwardly cold demeanor. Because of this, Mathias often asks him to try out some of his family's newest creations. Emil suspects bunny bread will be no exception to this common practice. Little has changed in almost sixteen years.

With that in mind, Emil knows that none of the Køhler's breads have bad taste. He supposes that is only natural after being in the business for seven generations. When the breads cool, he takes one and takes the tail off. He plops little roll of dough into his mouth and rolls it around his tongue. The balance of butter with a light use of flour is just right. This bread is noticeably sweeter than most he is used to, though he thinks the bunny buns are marketed towards sweet advocates like his brother.

Mathias who is intently watching him eat wears a large smile. "How is it?" he asks, his sky-like eyes beaming with a hidden pride.

"It's good," Emil tells him and proceeds to bite off the head. He cannot understand why people try to save the head for last. Supposing the animal-shaped edibles really are alive, they will suffer more when consumed from the bottom up, will they not? On that mindset, he quickly dispatches the bunny-shaped bread's head and works his way to the filling-less center.

"I knew they were good!" Mathias proudly smiles. "Ah, it's too bad you guys don't have any eggs right now. I wanted to make some custard, but you guys were fresh out. I can't leave the oven unattended."

Emil sighed between bites. "If you want to make custard, just go to the store and buy some. The breads are done baking, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are!" Mathias realizes as though the thought never dawned on him before. "I'll be right back, okay, Ice?"

"Sure," he says and finishes up his first helping. The overwhelming taste of sugar in his mouth begs to be washed down with water. Emil takes hearty gulps while Mathias leaves to buy some eggs.

Sometime while he is finishing his afterschool snack, Emil gets a message on his phone. Thinking it is Lukas telling asking about his finals, he pulls out the display screen and reads the message. In an instant, he stops chewing and freezes his eyes onto the screen. It is a message from Leon.

**Leon: hey. can u meet me in trip aqua station?**

"Trip district?" he mumbles quietly to himself when his petrified phase passes. "That's the business district. What does he want over there?"

His thoughts wander over to the possible reasons. Retro is easier to get lost in, but it is also easier to get overwhelmed with fans if Leon's identity is to ever become exposed. Aside from being a district for business interactions, Trip also has a lot of tourist attractions to keep the travelers occupied. Perhaps Leon means to bring him to one of these places for their second date.

At the thought of knowing this is their second date, Emil's eyebrows lower towards his eyes. It is strange at how they call their outings "dates." They are just friends. They should just call these things get-togethers. Sure, it is just the two of them, but the thought off going out on "dates" makes him uncomfortable. He does not want anyone to get the wrong idea—Lukas especially.

Just then, his phone sends off another message, startling Emil and making him jolt from his seat.

**Leon: u there?**

He reluctantly types back a response.

**Emil: Yes. I'm here.**

**Leon: so r ur coming?**

Emil presses his lips together. School is over. Summer vacation has officially started. For another three months, he does not have to worry about tests or homework or writing papers. He is free from all of that. By technicality, he should also be free from his brother. Lukas does not have a leash on him during these few months he has open. With that in mind, he types up a reply and heads upstairs to change into a new outfit.

**Emil: Yes. I'll be there in a bit.**

Leon gives him no reply, so Emil heads down the stairs. He makes sure his phone is on him before heading out the door. Mathias, he knows, will not be back for another twenty minutes, plenty of time for him to slip away to the station without being interrogated. Most convenient of all is that if his brother gets off from work early, the path home is in the opposite direction. Emil will not have to worry about confronting Mathias or Lukas while going to the station.

"Look at me," he breathes in the spongy air. "What am I doing?" Before meeting Leon, he would have never considered doing this type of behavior. He would have checked with his brother or called him for permission even when he did not have to. Now, he is leaving without a single word or a note. The less he tells them, the better, he thinks and quickens his pace towards the station.

The Bolt Rails at this hour are packed with people commuting from work and school. Emil moves right on past these people and takes the escalator to the Lightning Rails. The next train arrives in a matter of minutes, and Emil finds a clean, spacious, and comfortable seat. Trip district is on the other side of Holo so he has some time to enjoy himself until then.

Like before, the train takes off with remarkable speed, zipping through Circuit district and arriving at the first station in Wire's market district. No one boards the train at this stop, and in less than thirty seconds, the Lightning Rail moves to the next station. This continues until Retro pulls up. Since it is still the afternoon, the normally festive district looks barren and void of life. There are few pedestrians moving around at the bottom of the station, and there are little to no lights or signs floating in between alleys and streets. Like Wire, no one boards the train, and the train glides into Trip's first station. Here, a few passengers depart and board, most looking like prim businessmen than celebrities like Leon. Some are carrying expensive watches and phone models, Emil notices, making his old model appear inferior by comparison. His hand subconsciously pulls his sleeve over his wrist to hide his watch while he sees the other passengers flip through their phones to observe appointments or contacts. Despite having advanced phone models, however, Emil does not see them use them to make any outgoing calls. Everything is done through professional messaging systems. It makes Emil wonder if they learn to type without errors by hand or by program. If anything, Leon certainly does not have a program that helps him professionally type. His spelling is awful.

The aqua station is the last stop in Trip district. There are skyscrapers looming over the premises already, as if a tidal wave of edifices are frozen in place, but ready to swallow the rest of the city in glass and concrete. The moment Emil departs from the train, his lungs intake a breath full of small water vapors. He feels like he is breathing through a wet cloth and nearly chokes until he covers his mouth with his sleeve and takes in a quick breath of warm, but water-reduced air before continuing through the station.

When he gets to the ground floor, he types up a quick message asking Leon where he is to save him the trouble of manually searching for him. Leon replies by saying he is already at the station, but unlike before, Emil does not see anyone with a large hood or hat.

After searching aimlessly around the station with no success, Emil irritatingly sends another message to his friend.

**Emil: Where are you?**

**Leon: right here. i can see u.**

This is not funny. Emil is hot, tired, and sweating. He can hardly breathe in this hot air. He just wants to know where Leon is. In any case, Leon might be able to see him, but he cannot see Leon. He does not know if that arrogant celebrity is toying with him or not. Perhaps he is even looking at him through a camera of some sort. His search continues for another unsuccessful five minutes before Emil tries again.

**Emil: I can't see you.**

**Leon: im right behind u**

Immediately after reading the message, Emil turns around to find that there is absolutely no one there. No one in a jacket, no one with a cocky smirk, nobody.

Then, without warning—

"So these things work on you, too."

At the sound of Leon's voice, Emil instantly shoots up and lets out a small cry. Someone taps him on the shoulder, and when he looks closely, he sees that it is none other than Leon with a pair of sunglasses.

"L-Le—!" He catches himself before uttering his friend's name. "You scared me! And what do you think you're doing wearing that out in the open?!"

Much to his horror, his friend is wearing nothing but a sleek red vest topped over a plaid shirt and sporting a pair of jeans. In other words, there is nothing draped over his head to conceal him from masses recognizing him out in public. Even in some of his celebrity photos, he must have worn sunglasses. Someone in Trip district is bound to recognize him.

"Don't worry about it, Ice," Leon calmly says with his usual smirk. "I've got it covered."

"You're insane!" Emil cries in a hushed voice. "If someone sees us, we're so dead! My brother's going to kill me!"

"Relax," Leon tells him without batting an eyelash. Emil can faintly see his eyes behind the sunglasses. "These things I've got here are—I'm not joking—manufactured by a company in Altorien. They're called Dubious Ultra Master Blasting sunglasses."

Emil's face scrunches into a lemon-faced frown. "In other words, they're D.U.M.B."

"Hey, I didn't name them," Leon chuckles with a tone of amusement. "Wouldn't you believe it? Yong Soo's a behind-the-scenes inventor."

" _What?_ " Leon has lost him at this point.

"Yong Soo? You know—Oh, never mind. If you didn't know who I was, you'll never know who this guy is."

Emil shakes his head. "No, I know he's a celebrity like you, but where does Yong Soo tie into this? And before you ask, I started doing some research on other celebrities after meeting you."

"Er…" Leon goes back on tangent. "So, as I was saying, Yong Soo's a sort of, like, inventor. One of the weird things he invented were these sunglasses that can hide your identity. Weird, I know, but the science behind these are pretty cool."

"Why bring Yong Soo into this at all?"

His friend lets out an irritated sigh. "It's because the ass is my collab partner. He's the guy I mentioned having to work with."

"Oh. So I was right," Emil says under his breath, recalling the time he was guessing who Leon would be working with.

"I swiped these off him after I saw him use them."

Emil's lavender eyes grow wide. "You stole them?"

"Borrowed, not stole," Leon corrects. "There's a fine line between the two. As long as he doesn't know I stole them and give them back later, it's, like, called 'borrowing,' isn't it?"

"You still took them without his permission!" Emil hisses into his ear. "And how do you even know they work?"

Leon chuckles. "You didn't see me even though I was right in front of you, right?"

"That's because you weren't in front of me. You were behind me."

"Wrong. I was in front of you. It's the glasses."

Emil makes a face. He does not understand how something as simple as a pair of glasses can render someone invisible.

"I haven't really figured it out all the way, but I think it either captures a picture of my surroundings or it sends a signal through the viewer's optical nerves. One or the other. My old man never taught me physics."

Neither of the reasons sounds pleasant in the slightest. He does not like the idea of having a pair of sunglasses digging through his optical nerves and making it appear as if nothing is there.

"So…let me get this straight…As long as you wear those glasses, no one will be able to recognize you?"

"Not as long as I keep these on. I even tried them on my agent, and he couldn't see me. It turns out you need a vocal connection to trigger your presence. Something like misdirection, I think."

"Whatever, Leon," Emil sighs, tired of hearing his convoluted explanation. At least he does not have to worry about Leon being identified anymore. "But if you talk with someone, then won't that person recognize you?"

"Not if I lay it low, right?" Leon casually asks.

The thought of having to deal with all the people they might encounter does not entice Emil, but he consents nevertheless.

"Fine," he tells him with a sigh. "So where are we going today?"

"Easy. We're hopping over to Neon."

Emil immediately stiffens. "Neon?" he repeats. "You mean as in Neon district?"

Leon shrugs. "Where else?"

"We—! We can't go there! If it's just the two of us, we need to be twenty-one! We're underage, Leon!"

"Says who?"

"Says—! Oh, forget it." Emil's temper flattens like a deflated balloon, but on the inside, his mind is still steaming with complicated feelings. While it is not unheard of to bring minors into the gambling district, Neon is not the place for young minds nor the faint of heart. Many an aspiration has been crushed at the hands of fixed casinos, skilled dealers, and watchful eyes. Beyond the glamour and glory of awaiting riches and fanciful displays, there is a dark system that sits atop the highest buildings. With that knowledge, it is hard to believe that someone as polite and friendly as Cheng Wang is actually the overseer of the district, settling financial prospects, distributing funds, and organizing events. Since he is Leon's cousin, it makes sense for Leon to have gone to Neon before, but for someone as naïve and inexperienced as Emil, there is no telling what can happen in the wrong locations.

"Even with those dumb glasses on, you really think they're going to let you in without taking them off?" Emil reminds his friend. "Someone's going to recognize you sooner or later, and I'd rather not have it be at Neon." He pauses. "And why Neon? Does it really have to be that place? It couldn't be Retro again? Or even Trip?"

"Not Trip," Leon automatically says right after the last word leaves Emil's lips. "We're not hanging around Retro either."

Emil blinks. "And why is that?"

The celebrity swings his head back, causing his front bangs to bob in the front. "There's someone who might be there, and I don't want to be caught dead running into him—especially with you around."

"Oh, let me guess," Emil sighs, crossing his arms, "it's Yong Soo, isn't it?"

Leon's brow arches. "Hey, maybe you're not so stupid after all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean you don't look like you're quick on catching up on things, but yeah, Yong Soo's the one I'm trying to look out for. You don't have any idea what it's been like working with that guy, Ice. These three weeks have been a total disaster."

"Enough that you couldn't even tell me about you?" Emil suddenly asks.

Leon stares at him with his piercing golden eyes. "What?"

Knowing he cannot take the question back, Emil drives his point further. "Y-You never called or messaged me after all this time. I thought…" He shakes his head. "Why am I even saying this? You don't care."

"No," Leon insists. "I do care. We're friends, aren't we?"

"I…" Emil bites his lower lip. "Yeah. We are. Or at least I'd like to think we are."

"We're friends, Ice." Leon repeats. "So you were worried that I forgot about you?"

That is it. He knows. With a defeated expression, Emil slowly nods.

"Oh. Don't be so worked up on that. I was busy. Heck, I bet  _you_ were busy. Don't you prim college students have finals or something during your last days?"

"Well, yes."

"See? So you probably didn't want me bothering you, anyway. Not that I could. Yong Soo and the agents have been hovering over us the entire time trying to do scenes for the movie. It's a full-blown project."

Emil does not believe him. This is too nice a coincidence for Leon to say something like that. If he really was busy, then he should not have found the time to go on a da—a get-together right after Emil finished school. There has to be more to the story.

"You did something, didn't you?"

Leon tilts his head. "Huh?"

"If you were so 'busy' all the time, then how were you able to just out of the blue message me and say we were going on a da—an outing like this?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I just had the time today."

"You're lying," Emil growls. "It's my first day of summer vacation. I barely just got out from my last finals, and you message me. What did you do? I told you I wanted to know the real you, Leon. I didn't think you'd hide this kind of stuff from me."

At that, Leon clicks his tongue. "It's not that big a deal. I just faked an injury and said I needed some time to recover."

Unconvinced, Emil raises an eyebrow. "How did you 'fake' your injury?"

Leon's smirk twists itself into a slight sneer. "Why are you acting like this? This is why I didn't want to tell you the truth. It's because I knew you'd get all newscast reporter on my ass that I told you a white lie." But this is not a white lie, not to Emil. He does not understand why Leon is trying to cover up something like this.

Is it because it is inconvenient to tell him the truth? What sort of reason is that to cover up his tactics? Emil is wondering if this is what it means to even know the real Leon. Perhaps it is to never know him at all. The further he tries to look for answers, the farther he gets from the truth and the blurrier his identity becomes. Emil is not even sure if he should continue looking or stop prying altogether.

"Leon," Emil says, "I want to be your friend. Really, I do. I've never had one before, and it's been nice getting to go to places with you and seeing your family, but if you do this to me, then I don't know if I'll be able to continue trusting you."

The actor does not say anything. Regardless of whether he is listening or not, Emil continues.

"I want to be able to know you so that if something's wrong, I'll know how to be a real friend to you." He almost chuckles at how ridiculous he sounds. This is coming from a person who has never had a friend in his life. He has no credibility whatsoever; for that matter, neither does Leon, but he wants to be the better half in this relationship.

"I see what you're getting at," Leon then says, his voice low and void of arrogance. Emil waits for an elaboration. "You want my trust. Alright. I can give you that." He sticks out his hand for Emil to take. "I promise we'll get back in one piece, Ice. It has to be Neon, though."

"Why?" he asks.

"You're just going to have to trust me."

There is no reason why he should give it to him so easily. Emil, who has never had a friend before, has shut himself from the rest of the world in hopes of only having to truest his soul mate. Now that he has met him, though, the circumstances are different. Leon is neither his genuine friend nor someone he can say he loves, but whatever fates or luck has brought them together wants them to stay that way. This was meant to be from the moment he was born. And so, with a swallow and a hesitant sensation in his fingertips, he moves his hand up to Leon and lets him take it. Leon's hand, while larger than Emil's pale and bony surface, is startlingly warm and soft to the touch. The contact of this other human being gives Emil the reassurance he needs to follow him; it is enough for the spur of the moment to trust him and walk in the direction of Neon district, the gambling district where the lights never sleep.

* * *

The boys' walk does not take to long to complete. Between the aqua station in Trip and the gates leading to Neon, Leon and Emil walk a short four blocks until they reach the concrete walls separating the business district from the gambling district. There are only a handful of security guards at this hour, being that it is in the middle of the afternoon. Neon and Volt are the only districts with gates and security guards stationed at the entrances for sensible reasons: Neon is reserved to adults, and Volt is reserved to the elite. In the case of a little tampering, Leon and Emil are considered both.

"You're sure this is going to work?" Emil nervously asks as the distance between them and the gate decreases with each step.

"Relax, I've done this hundreds of times," his friend reassures him. "Cheng's cool with me hopping over as long as I tell him first."

Emil blinks. "So he knows you do this."

"Yeah."

"Did you tell him this time, too?"

"No."

"Leon!" Emil hisses.

Much to the modest teen's frustration, Leon laughs it off like a harmless prank, but this is no harmless prank. If they are caught, this will go on their permanent records as conducting underage gambling and trespassing. With Leon's connections, he will be able to bury the blotch on this record in a blink of an eye, but Emil lacks the confidence with his humble background. Still, he does not resist when Leon takes him to the edge of the gates, phones out, and sunglasses still on.

A security guard walks over to them with a blank expression. From the corner of his eye, Emil can see the stunning rod used for halting breakers of the law. He read once that they have enough voltage to stun a 130-kilogram man.

"Ya two hopping over ta Neon?" the security guard asks in a gruff, throaty voice like he is rolling a potato in his mouth.

"Yep," Leon shortly answers and brandishes his identification.

Emil's heart skips a beat when the security guard pulls out a scanner and starts the identification process. There are three steps to this procedure: the identification scan, the background scan, and the physical scan. The identification scans are used all over the city in places such as shopping malls, schools, and auditoriums in order to verify a person is a registered or authorized resident of an area. It is the quickest and most accurate of the scans, and it transitions into the background scan. The background scans are mainly used for job interviews, traveling procedures, and district traveling. After passing the identification scan to see if the person is legally registered, the background scan points out any previous criminal, financial, or clinical records that can be deemed suspicious or a threat to society. Emil does not have to worry about this scan with his age being hacked, and he thinks Leon does not, either—so as long as he clears his identification scan first. Lastly, there is the physical scan where human eyes are required to verify the profile found in the person's most current identification. After undergoing medical procedures, it is required by law to update one's profile picture. In any case, this is to ensure that the identification of the person in the city's database matches that of the person's physical body. Like before, Emil does not have to worry about this scan, but he wonders what the security guard will think of his celebrity companion.

"Lessee here…" the security guard mumbles. "You're clear with these two scans. Exactly twenty-one…Just gotta check your faces to make sure yer the real deal." Emil almost flinches when the man looks up from his scanner to his face. He stares at him for a few seconds with hard, calculating gray eyes. Then, he confirms that Emil is good to go, and his breathing lightly eases up. Next is Leon.

"Sir, yer gonna have to take yer sunglasses off."

"Sure," Leon calmly says and removes his glasses. Emil holds his breath again and watches the silent exchange of eye contact. Leon is staring at the guard with a hard expression, his entire face otherwise blank; the security guard is looking at him with the same amount of passive intensity.

Then, after what seems like an eternity, the security guard gives a light nod and signals for the gate to open.

"The two of you are clear," he says and heads over to the entrance to Neon. "Have yerselves a good time, and play responsibly."

"We will, sir," Leon chuckles with a triumphant, smug grin on his face and places his sunglasses back on. Emil does not say anything to him for a good few meters into Neon before finally opening his mouth.

"What did you do back there?" he asks in a cautiously hushed voice.

"The IDs? Oh, I just hacked into the database and tinkered with the ages a little—"

"Not that," Emil snaps. "I know you can do that. I mean, why didn't the security guard recognize you? Your face is everywhere."

Bemused, Leon raises an eyebrow. "Hey, the first time we met, you didn't know who I was."

"But that's besides the point!" Emil hisses through his teeth. "Just seeing the name 'Leon Wang' should have posed questions. How did you change your name and face when he was looking at you?"

"Easy," Leon says without fazing. "I used the Dubious Ultra—Oh, forget it. That really is a shitty name. I used the D.U.M.B. sunglasses to trick his brain. It sends a temporary signal that alters the way you look. I even used it on you back at the station. I've gotta hand it to that idiot. He's a shitty martial artist, but he's a damn good inventor when he wants to be."

The explanation sounds so far-fetched that Emil refuses to believe it. Such technology can be used for extreme security breakthrough measures. Even if Leon is not the one who invented them, the invention is an extremely dangerous device to carry around. There is no telling what someone as reckless as Leon can pull off by hiding his identity.

"L-Leon?" he stammers.

"Yeah?"

"Can you promise me something?"

Leon stops walking and adjusts the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose. "What is it, Ice?"

Emil stares past the dark lenses into his golden eyes. He can see his concerned reflection shown in a warped image on convex frames. "After today, I don't want you using those things anymore. Give them back to Yong Soo."

The proposition clearly does not bode well with Leon's point of view. "What? Fuck no, Ice. You know how useful these things are? I don't even have to wear some over-the-top getup or use a wig, and those things are stuffy as—"

" _Leon._ " Emil speaks in a firm tone. It is the same tone his brother sometimes uses with him when his behavior or Mathias' falls out of character.

However, his friend is reluctant to listen. Being born in a privileged family, he is not used to someone telling him what to do and what not to do.

"What are you, my mother?" he snaps. "No. I'm keeping them. It makes getting around way easier. Anyway, we're almost in the main part of Neon, Ice—"

"Why is it so hard to listen to reason?" Emil finds himself growling out of building frustration. "I'm just trying to tell you what's wrong, and right. Even if you weren't a celebrity, it's not right to just cheat the system like that." He lets out a bated huff of air. "And if that's the way you're going to act, then I should just go home."

Leon's eyes narrow, and he stops. "Now what are you trying to pull? An ultimatum? For your information, Ice, you're wrong. It's  _different_ for me because I'm a celebrity. You think I like to walk out in public and have cameras mobbing me and weirdos asking me stupid questions wherever I go? Think about what I have to deal with for just one damn second." His voice begins to rise until it crescendos into an echo that bounces through the street. The pedestrians at this sunny hour are sparse, but Emil cannot help but think that they are attracting unwanted attention. "The reason I even got to meet you on that day our numbers stopped was because I had to fucking sneak out of my hotel room. It wasn't easy. It never is. There. That's the truth. All that stuff I said about sneaking out just being a walk in the park is a lie. Pulling all the strings to even make this day free nearly cost me an arm and a leg—literally. I had to stage an accident and everything. Are you happy now? This is the real me. I'm someone who was practically born and raised to become a star, and not because I wanted to—it was because of my fucking guardian."

Emil is stunned speechless. Anything he can think of saying will just get interpreted as the wrong message with the wrong words. He can only keep quiet as Leon pours his feelings out.

"I told you this before. I've never had someone outside of my circle to call a friend. When I go out of my way to see you, it's not because I'm bored. I really want to see you. I like being with you, Ice. Why the fuck else would I go through all the trouble of cracking my old man's security system and even the fucking city's just to spend a few hours with you?"

"I…Leon…" Emil is at a loss for words. "I don't know what to say…"

"You don't…" Leon lets out a curse and sighs. "You don't need to say anything, Ice. Just tell me you're happy. Then…I'll be happy."

Emil nibbles on his lips and stares into Leon's quivering golden eyes. "This has to be the last time," he says, not backing down from his initial proposition. "They're not yours. A normal person knows that. I want this to be the last time you hide like this."

Hide? Leon's mind processes the different angles he might be referring to that context. Emil can either be referring to his identity or his face. Perhaps both. Interestingly, the double meaning amuses him enough to play along with it. He will return the glasses—but not before taking them apart and stealing a modified patent on them. This will be Yong Soo's punishment for bootlegging his guardian's and cousin's designs.

"Fine. Today's the last day," he tells his friend. "I promise." To make the seal official, he sticks his hand out and waits. As expected, with the right amount of patience, Emil takes his hand. Before he can let go, however, Leon grabs ahold of it, and pulls him down the street.

"Hey!" Emil cries in a startled gasp. "What are you doing?!"

"We're going to Neon, remember?" Leon laughs, returning to his smug self. "I've got the whole day off so we have to have some fun. That's a must, got it?"

To Emil's credit, he almost looks cute when he is mildly irritated. "Fine," he mumbles in a restrained voice. "I didn't know it could be a crime to not have fun." He changes the topic as they pass the first street filled with fanciful love hotels and lifeless bars not open for business yet. "So what's Neon like?"

"Mm, what do you think it looks like?" Leon first starts out with a question.

Emil searches through his thoughts. "I've always heard it was a gambling haven where you can win a lot of money…or lose a lot of money."

Leon laughs. "Sure, that works."

"Is it dangerous?"

The question bothers Leon. Being that his cousin is the overseer of the gambling district, he cannot honestly say it is dangerous for him. He is familiar with the neon-paved streets and buildings adorned with cold-hard heta, blood, and sweat. Still, for someone naïve and unaware of the workings of the world, Neon will swallow up Emil once it gets ahold of him. Leon will not let that happen. Not as long as he has him in his sights.

"No," he says, perfectly masking his inner concerns. "It's not dangerous. Just stay away from stripper clubs and bars, and you'll do just fine."

This makes Emil dryly laugh. "As if we're even technically old enough to go to those places."

"You ever have a drink before?" Leon suddenly asks.

"Huh?" Emil gapes with wide eyes. "No! I'm not stupid. What about you?"

"Maybe," the celebrity vaguely answers. The topic is never dwelled upon after that, so he moves to another question. "What about going to a strip club?"

"That's a stupid question, Leon," the under-aged student emotionlessly responds.

"Yeah, neither have I. Cheng said those places are for the barbaric." He pauses. "Well, have you ever seen porn before?"

The subject comes so suddenly and casually that Emil has to take a moment to correctly process the question.

"Wha…? Wh-What makes you think I do something as lewd as that?"

"Well, you don't look like you get out much, and your social skills are really awkward so I thought maybe, you know, you just like to surf on the net and—"

"I don't!" Emil cries, a rosy pink complexion blushing on his otherwise pale cheeks. The reaction makes Leon want to tease him further, but he understands how fragile he is on the inside and drops the topic and shifts into something more relatable.

"So have you ever had a crush on someone?"

Emil swallows and starts to finger his sleeve with his spare hand. He is still holding hands with Leon, and he wonders if he can feel his palms starting to moisten or not.

"No," he quietly murmurs. "I never did because I knew I'd meet someone else one day."

"Me, you mean," Leon clarifies. Emil slowly nods. "You weren't what I expected, either, Ice."

He lowers his silver eyebrows. "I didn't say anything."

"But you're thinking it, aren't you?"

Emil cannot hide that fact. "Yeah. I really thought you'd be a…girl…"

"Same here," Leon smiles as he pictures what his soul mate might look like as a girl. The more he dwells on it, Emil does not look too far off. He has slender wrists, pale skin, and a large but gentle pair of lavender eyes. He can be as beautiful as any girl he comes across, maybe even more attractive.

On that note, Emil thinks to bring up something else. "Um, so, have you ever…?" His voice trails off.

His friend is listening. "What? Just say it, Ice."

Emil swallows. "You're an actor, right? So have you ever had to, you know…kiss someone?"

"Oh. Yeah, I have." Leon's response comes out just as casually as responding to what he ate for breakfast.

Curious, he continues to ask questions. "Were you scared?"

"No. I knew those actresses were just doing it because of the script. Some of them were good."

Emil furrows his eyebrows. "What makes someone a good kisser? Wait. How would you even know?"

"I practiced."

" _Practiced?_ " Emil echoes. "Who'd you practice with?"

Leon chuckles, knowing the answer will shock his friend. "You don't wanna know. It's going to be weird."

"Is it someone I know?"

"Sure, you've seen this person around."

Emil falls into silence as he thinks about the people Leon has introduced him to. "Is it Lien?" he guesses.

"Playing the guessing game, are we?"

"So it's Lien?"

Leon shakes his head. "Nope."

"But…" Emil searches through his memories. As far as he is concerned, Lien is the only woman Leon has ever introduced him to. If that is the case, then whoever Leon practiced on has to be a man. "Wait…So is it Cheng?"

"I wish," Leon laughs, picturing the thought of kissing his respected cousin. No matter how much he respects him, he cannot imagine ever falling into a romantic relationship with him. He honors Cheng's status that much.

Then, Emil finally falls on the last person he can think of. The thought of imagining Leon with him is beyond absurd. He is not sure how it could have come to be, but he still throws out the name.

"I'm out of names, but…Kasem?"

"Bingo," Leon grins.

"Wh-Wha…? You're joking." Emil's lips are trembling.

"He's a good kisser." Another casual response.

Emil's voice seizes up into a dry choke. The thought of someone as cocky and sly as Leon with someone as light-hearted and easygoing as Kasem is difficult to wrap his head around, to say the least. For whatever reason, he has no trouble imagining Kasem being with Lien, but Leon with Kasem is an entirely different story.

"Don't believe me?" Leon chuckles. "I can show you if you want."

"No!" Emil cries out a little too loudly at the sudden brashness of that offer. "I-I'm good. It's just kind of strange how Kasem's the one who taught you and all." He blinks. "You're really being serious about that?"

"I'm serious. You can even ask Lien and Cheng."

"No, thank you," Emil declines with a slight shudder. In truth, he does not doubt Leon's claim, but an inner part of him is upset with the fact that Leon has kissed other people in the past. Sure, it is an understandable fact since Leon is a famous actor, but he almost feels…how does he put it…? Jealous?

To repress the thoughts, he furiously shakes his head which Leon catches.

"Something wrong, Ice?" he asks.

"Nothing," he replies. "Just a little tired."

"Huh. Well, we're almost there. If you're tired, we can rent a room until, like, the afternoon's up. The real fun begins at night, anyway." Emil wants to ask what Leon means by a room, but he declines the offer and says he will be fine for the rest of the day. At the back of his head, he does not understand why he would be jealous of Leon kissing other people. Is it because Leon is his soul mate?

No. He is being ridiculous, he thinks. Leon Wang is a friend and nothing more. There is nothing more to their relationship than that. Of course, Leon cannot quite be considered a true friend, either. There are times when Emil doubts their relationship, but he is close to being a real friend nonetheless. He wants them to stay this way.

"Hey, check it out, Ice." Leon points to the opening of the street where the sides of the buildings part and make way for a blinding rainbow of white lights all around. Emil has to practically squint in order to recognize the zany architecture of the towering buildings. All of a sudden, he feels something dark drape over his eyes and rest on the bridge of his nose. Leon has lent him his sunglasses. The moment the glare of the sun shies away behind the protective coating, Emil's jaw drops open. In that moment the insufferable humid air leaves his mind at the remarkable sight to behold.

Leon lets go of his hand for a short moment, and sweeps his arms out like an extravagant showstopper. With an elegant bow and a wide smile, he formally introduces Emil to Holo's official gambling district.

"Welcome to Neon, Ice," he says with a polite voice. "I hope you'll have a good time here. Let our second date commence."


	11. XI

Back in Circuit, a dark shadow looms over the resident of two lone brothers and an occasional—actually, make that annoyingly frequent—visitor. The peak of summer is slowly approaching, and yet, despite that, the air feels remarkably colder and frigid than ever. Mathias with his sunny mood and usual widespread smile can feel the miasma oozing off his soul mate's body like an underlying stench coming out of its depths of a rotting body.

"Let me get this straight…" Lukas speaks with a voice so cold and deathly, one can easily mistaken him for a ghost or demon from a supernatural horror movie. "You just left to get eggs.  _Eggs._ "

"Y-You were out, and I thought it would be good to get some, so Ice said he would watch the house, and—"

"You idiot!" Lukas shrieks. This side of his is as rare as a blue moon, but no matter how many times Mathias sees it, it never fails to surprise him. Behind Lukas' stoic, frozen face lays an icy fire that consumes everything in its path. He becomes recklessly unstoppable when his buttons are pressed, and there is little anyone can do until he calms down. Now, the more he thinks on it, Emil is the only one who has ever been able to calm Lukas down, but he is not present. He is gone without a trace.

"L-Lukas…" Mathias says in a wavering tone. "Calm down. I'm sure Ice just went to go out to get something from the market. Maybe he got bored or…something?"

Lukas glares icicles at the useless baker, his thin nostrils practically breathing steam. Whether this is because the room has frozen over or because Lukas is brimming with hot air is something Mathias cannot identify.

"If he did that, then why didn't either of us see him on the way here?" he asks in a cold voice.

"Ah…Good point. I didn't think about that." He lets out a small, capitulating cry when Lukas jabs him in his forehead with sharp nails. If Emil were here, he might have made a comment about how it is a good thing Mathias' head is so thick.

"You never think about anything," he hisses with a bite. "That's why you let Ice leave."

"Lay it off, Lukas," Mathias tries to say in a calm voice, but the edge of his voice is laced with pain. "I'm sure he's fine. He's a grown man. He can take care of himself if he thinks he can."

Lukas thinks otherwise. "He can't. And I swear on your thick, empty head, if he's hanging out with that Leon kid…"

"N-Now, Lukas, Ice wouldn't do that, would he?" Mathias nervously chuckles.

"He would. He's done it once already."

"That doesn't mean he'll do it again without telling us. Try to think rationally."

Lukas utters a dry laugh. His face is twisted into a cold, sarcastic smile that eerily matches the state of his character. "Rationally, you say?" he smiles with a freezing stare. "Look who's telling me to think rationally when you can't even keep an eye on my brother for one second." Mathias thinks he means to say more, but like an off switch, Lukas suddenly snaps his mouth into a still silence and shuts off. The cold air in the room dissipates, and the only thing that can be heard is the faint sound of the neighbors' kids laughing outside.

Then, without saying so much as a word, Lukas grabs his phone and watch and heads out of the front door.

"Lukas?" Mathias gapes. "H-Hey…! Lukas, where are you—? Lukas, wait up!"

He immediately pushes himself back from the table without tucking his chair in and runs after him. The door automatically closes behind him, and soon, the house is completely empty. On a tray in the kitchen, there are rows after rows of uneaten bunny buns waiting for the mouths that will never consume them.

* * *

Neon is appropriately named. There are endless sights of vivid colors and songs to be heard. The further Emil and Leon walk, the noisier and more alive it becomes. Leon points out a street at an intersection that will lead them in the direction of the center, where the gambling hub of the country is located.

Ahead, there are pipes and highways of colorful glass tubes intertwining in cubic patterns and networks. Automated vehicles and Cubes hover in mid-air displaying advertisements and playing jingling music, setting the young student's heart racing in excitement. Beyond the pipes of unlit neon tubes are signs after signs like an archaic bookstore after a hurricane. Billboards, dark bulbs, and hovering advertisements stack in an assortment of wild attractions. Each advertisement is unique, specially designed to catch the eyes and drive their products. Emil has never seen or heard of some of these places or items, but a small part of his childlike mind desires whatever is displayed on the screens.

Further into the main square are buildings rising up like sprouts after the dusk of a fire. Beaming yellows, sharp blues, piercing green, and poignant pinks stand out above all else in contrast to the slick black and red floors, paved like the colors of casino chips, broken dreams, and monetary wonderment. Here, in the district where stories and dreams have been made or shattered, the entire place looks like a theme park for the adult mind. The further in they go, the heavier the security. Posters turn from advertisement screens to refreshment distributors and directories. There are even security Cubes on patrol, each one carefully equipped with a small jolt of electricity to render cheaters helpless to defenses. Despite their intimidating arsenal, Emil cannot help but find them to perfectly match the rest of the festive atmosphere as they display the same friendly "^v^" symbol on their screens like in Blossoms.

"Ice, this way."

The spell on Emil's eyes and mind temporarily wears off just enough to respond to his friend's call. He gives the sunglasses back to Leon, and his friend's warm hand takes him to a building with a sign erected high at the top. While Emil cannot see it from his position, the same name is painted in frosted spray paint over the revolving glass doors. Unfortunately, the characters, Emil recognizes, are spelt in Jiang, and he instantly forgets the elegant strokes and lines upon reaching the other side.

"Lotus."

"Eh?" Emil blinks incredulously at his friend for a split second at the word.

"That character in Jiang spells 'Lotus,' if you were wondering."

"O-Oh…" He stares at it and studies the way the strokes cross over and move with each other in the form of art. He thinks there is no other language that can look as beautiful as Jiang. In comparison, his language is considerably drab and dull with letters composing words in different arrangements.

Being so wrapped up in his studious state, he almost fails to notice Leon tugging harder at his hand. It takes three tugs to finally get his attention, and by then, Leon is losing patience.

"Hey, don't tell me you're going to make out with the door next," he sneers. "There's way more than just a fancy glass printing to see. Come on."

As he leads Emil along, he thinks to ask a question to keep his focus on him.

"So has Lukas ever been to Neon before?" he asks him as they push through the sparse crowds of people. It is understandable that there are few people at this hour, but come nighttime, the entire make-up of this ground floor will change.

"Once," Emil tells him. "And it wasn't even because he wanted to come here. He only came here because…Oh, never mind."

"What?" Leon presses. "C'mon, you brought it up, so now, you've gotta tell it."

"It's embarrassing."

The comment makes Leon chuckle. "Couldn't be more embarrassing than the story about how you got your nickname, could it?"

He has him there, Emil thinks. So, with a reluctant grunt and crease between his brow, he tells Leon about Lukas' one time in the gambling district.

"It was Mathias' twenty-fourth birthday, and Lukas turned twenty-one, like, around a month ago. He just wanted to go somewhere fun because Lukas didn't do anything for his twenty-first birthday, and he thought it would be like a double birthday party."

Leon blinks. "So Lukas told this story to you first?"

"I got both sides of the story. I put together what truth I could get from the two of them."

His friend laughs. "So in other words, both of them fudged some parts."

"They made the other look like an idiot—well, Lukas made Mathias like one. Mathias just talked about how great he was, and everything."

"Oh."

"Anyway, the reason Lukas didn't have time to spend with me during his birthday was because, well, I got sick."

Leon frowns at why he even bothers bringing it up. "Sick?"

"I-It happened a lot when I was younger, I think it had to do with because of the fact that, well…you know…my parents dying and all. I-I don't mean to be depressing; it's just that, that's what really happened."

"No, I get it." He thinks of what to say next. "So you're over it now?"

Emil presses his lips together. "I don't think you can ever get over the death of your parents, but if you're talking about accepting it, then, yeah, I've done that." He ends the discussion of that topic and returns to the original story.

"Of course, Lukas didn't want to go to Neon. He was always worried about what might have happened to me if he left me at home. I was fifteen by then. I could take care of myself."

"Sure, you could."

Not knowing if Leon is being sarcastic or not, Emil decides that is best to ignore him and continue.

"But I was doing fine with school, and my health was fine, so Mathias finally got Lukas to go with him. They went to this place called…what was it? I think it was called Say Koray?"

He stops when he notices Leon trying and unsuccessfully hiding a smile on the corner of his lips.

"What?" he snaps. "Is something funny?"

"I'm not gonna lie, Ice. The way you say the name of that casino is fucking  _hilarious_."

"Oh, is it?" Emil says as though he is challenging him.

"It's pronounced  _sa-ku-ra._  Say it with me so no one laughs at you again. Sa-ku-ra."

"Sa-ku-ra?" Emil repeats.

"Yep. I know that because my agent loves the heck out of those flowers."

"It's a flower?"

"Yeah, Ice," Leon chuckles at how uninformed his friend is. "All the casinos in Neon district are named after flowers the way the restaurants in Retro are named after colors."

"Huh. I never knew that."

"You learn something new every day, Ice."

Emil furrows his eyebrows. "So what did  _you_  learn today?"

Leon smirks, a devious gleam in his golden eyes. " _I_ learned that you didn't know how to pronounce 'sakura.'"

"Ha ha. Very funny," he sarcastically laughs. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?"

"I'm listening."

Emil decides to finish before arriving at whatever their next destination is. "Mathias somehow ended up taking Lukas over to…Sakura…Did I say that right?"

"Yeah."

"Right. Sakura. They went there just to gamble. Mathias mostly. He'll tell you otherwise, but he lost a lot that day. A  _lot._ "

"Your definition of a lot is different than mine, Ice," Leon pompously points out.

Emil's eyes narrow. "Ooh, I'm sorry, Your Highness. Well, to Mathias and to me, for that, it was a lot. Lukas was  _pissed._ But after that, Mathias thought maybe Lukas had a lucky streak so they went to play craps."

"Dice game," Leon nods familiarly. "Not a favorite of mine, but Cheng likes it."

"Hmm." Emil wonders how good at gambling his cousin must be in order to be the overseer of the Neon district; if anything, Cheng must be pretty good if not adequate, he decides and wraps up the story. "Long story short, Lukas ended up winning back everything Mathias lost. The other part of that is that Mathias split up from Lukas for a while after my brother decided to keep the money. I mean…he's the one who won it, not Mathias. And then, Lukas decided it was better to look for Mathias just in case something happened to him, and he found him at a stripper club."

"Huh?" That throws Leon for a turn. He is looking more intently at him now.

"Yeah, well, I guess one of the things Mathias always wanted to see was a club like that, so he went to one."

"How'd your brother even find him?"

"It's not hard to point out someone with hair like my brother's soul mate, Leon. Trust me."

"I will there," he says, amused.

"After that, Mathias came home with an empty wallet and a few bruises on his face. His parents wouldn't let him work because they thought his face would scare away the customers. At least he got a few days off after that."

Leon bursts out laughing. "And his parents are still cool with your brother for letting him get into that situation?"

Emil shrugs. "It's a soul mate thing, I guess. Like I said, Lukas and Mathias go way back."

"Hmm. Nice story, Ice." At this point, they are in front of what appears to be a receptionist desk. Instead of a Cube in its place, there is a petite woman dressed in a wrinkle-free tea-green vest. Her oily brown hair is meticulously tightened behind her head without a single strand out of place; it is like she is not even real, Emil thinks, but her overly exaggerated smile says otherwise.

"Good afternoon," she greets them. "How may I help you?"

"I want a room," Leon tells her with a smooth voice. The entire time, he does not remove his sunglasses, but Emil can see the woman starting to blush. He resists the urge to roll his eyes and waits for the conversation to finish. At the back of his head, he is also wondering why they would need a room in the first place. Lukas will never allow him to stay at a place in Neon overnight. Knowing Leon is with him does not improve the situation, either.

"Oh, not a problem," the woman continues to smile. "What room would you like?"

"I'm sure you can work something out," Leon says, slipping a credit card from his wallet and handing it to the woman. Emil does not notice anything at first, but upon closer inspection, he sees that the credit card is not the only thing the wealthy actor gives her.

After a moment, the receptionist types up a few figures into her keyboard and hands back just the credit card with a brighter smile.

"Thank you for choosing Lotus, Mr. Kaoru*. Your room is already registered under your name. All you have to do is present a form of identification to the elevator, and you're all set. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No. That's all." To Emil's exasperation, Leon adjusts his glasses and gives the woman a kind smile before taking him to the elevator. When they are out of hearing range, there are several questions ready to pour out of his lips.

"What was that all about?" he asks, wanting to look back at the receptionist to see if the transaction he made was genuine. "Why did she call you Kaoru?"

"Just a silly alias I use. It's the most efficient one, so I just use it from time to time. I even have a credit score associated with that name, so I look like less of a machine to any security measures."

With that question out of the way, Emil moves on to another. "How much heta did you give her?"

"Just a couple hundred," Leon says as naturally as saying his hair is brown.

"A couple hundred?" Emil repeats with a flat voice.

"Yeah. Works every time. Just give a little tip to the receptionists, and they upgrade your room, no questions asked. Oh, we're going this way, if I remember correctly, Ice."

"A couple hundred?" Emil repeats again.

"Ice, did your brain break?" Leon chuckles.

"Leon, I can do a lot with a 'couple' hundred heta."

"Like…?"

"I can get a new book bag and new watch. Maybe even a new phone. Someone with less fortunate standards could get weeks of food or pay the rent for an apartment. Just saying."

But Leon just clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Ice, you're forgetting that being a celebrity is hard work. It's not exactly easy coming up with my own stunts, but then, you wouldn't know that since you don't watch my movies."

Emil has to agree with him there, but that does not mean his opinion about Leon's spending habits changes. "It's still not right," he grumbles.

Leon chuckles, amused at how little his friend knows about the customs of the elite. "Ice, Wang Studio donates millions to charities and scholarships every year. Have you really been doing your research?"

"Well…" Emil feels his cheeks getting hot. "Not really on Yao's company. I try to stick with just you."

"Cute," he comments, making Emil's cheeks grow hotter.

"Well, what about the room?" he asks Leon a different question to distract himself from his strange physiological reactions.

"What about it?"

"She didn't even tell you where we're going to be staying. And the key's just your I.D., right? How are we supposed to know where we're going to stay?"

But his answer will have to wait. By now, they are at the foot of the elevator doors. As instructed, Leon swipes his phone on the scanner and waits for the elevator bell to sound. A soft  _ding_ chimes atop a soft pink light, and the brass doors open, revealing tunnels of…

"Water?" Emil blinks. It is like an underwater version of the elevator ride at the Antenna Tower; there is a large body of water surrounding all the elevators with a thick sheet of transparent glass in between them. There are no fish to be found, but there is plenty of aquatic plant life. Most of the plants, Emil observes, have long dangling roots that trail nearly to the bottom of a murky pool. While he is staring at the view, Leon takes a moment to swipe his phone on the inside scanner. The scanner reads his identification, closes the sliding door, and begins its ascend to their designated room.

All the while, as they are slowly going up, Emil is mesmerized by how the waters progress from a muddy cloud and a forest of roots to a clear pool with spiky pink flowers and large green leafs floating on the surface.

"Leon, look!" he gasps and excitedly points out of the window, an innate childlike wonder breaking through his previously skeptical shell.

His friend leans over and looks at the flowers growing smaller and smaller with the continuing ascend. "Oh, those? You've never seen them before?" Emil shakes his head. "Those are lotus flowers, specially engineered kinds that bloom for a long time. When we reach the top, you'll be able to smell them."

"They're beautiful…" Emil breathes in awe at the fragile pink and white colors of the pointy petals. He is amazed a casino would be able to even take care of them in an odd location such as an elevator background. Then again, a lot is possible in the advanced Tekniq Era.

"Those are Cheng's and Kasem's favorite flowers," Leon tells him with a soft smile. "They represent purity—but it's a kind of purity you can only attain after going through a shit-ton of struggling."

Emil furrows his eyebrows. "Why's that?"

"You noticed how the water at the bottom was full of mud, right?"

"Yeah?"

"It's because lotus roots tend to grow in muddy water. Their roots are really tubular. Tasty, too. You have to eat some one day." Emil makes a mental note of it while Leon continues talking. "But it's really unexpected, right? You wouldn't usually think something that comes from a root that grows in the mud becomes something so beautiful and fragile…and so pure. Kasem says their growth is symbolic to something like enlightenment."

Emil turns to him. "Do you believe that?"

He shrugs. "Never really thought about it too much. I let him believe what he wants to believe."

The elevator soon reaches the top with another  _ding_ , and Leon and Emil exit. The moment Emil steps out, he can smell something delicately sweet from a peculiar source. This must be what Leon meant when he said he would smell the lotus flowers when they reached the top. It is a pleasant smell like the sweet pea flowers from Mathias' backyard garden mixed with a dash of vanilla from his family's cakes.

"You smell that, don't you?" Leon smiles. "Cheng's always liked that smell."

"I can see why."

"Yeah, whatever. We're almost there."

It does not take them too long to find where their room is located; after all, there is only one room on this floor.

"Really?" Emil blankly stares. "Only one room? This hotel seriously only has one room per floor?"

"Only for the penthouse suite, Ice," Leon chuckles, spinning his phone in his hand. He leaves Emil to mentally absorb that knowledge while he goes up to the door and presses his phone to the scanner. With a green confirmation light, the door clicks open, and Leon pushes it open.

"After you, Mr. Steilsson," he says, sweeping his hand inside like a concierge.

Emil does not appreciate the gesture, but he walks inside, regardless. The room is already completely lit with white furniture galore. White, white, white. He worries that he might get something dirty just by running his hand on the surface of anything other than the floor, which happens to be a dark shade of green. The further he goes, the more the room opens up into a large dome complete with a glass ceiling and fine-tempered beams. An ivory piano rests at one end of the room while a fireplace made with an unconventional construction of marble rests at the other end. Emil wonders if the fires started in the fireplace are real or stimulated. When he looks to his left, a full bar fitted with a marble countertop sits in the wall, fully stocked with fancy-looking bottles of drinks Emil cannot even name. Behind the bar, Emil thinks he can see a large kitchen with—of course, white cabinets and stark-white tile floors.

Dismissing the living area, Leon leads Emil to one of the rooms past the piano. Despite the privileged actor saying it is a guest room, Emil still cannot believe how fancy it looks. The bed looks like it can fit two, maybe three, of his mattresses and still have room for a small pillow fort. Fluffy white sheets are stacked sky-high and topped with cloud-like cushions and fitted pillows. A white-framed television screen sits across a large dresser with a remote at the side of the bed's nightstand. On top of the dresser is a pool of what looks like water, but Leon tells him it is incense oil.

"It's clear just because it looks nicer," he says to Emil as he continues to browse the room openmouthed. "If you want, we can light a candle, and the room will smell like lotus flowers. Or if you want, we can ask for something else."

Emil is awestruck. "Th-This…This is all so…"

"What? Fancy? Nice? Expensive-looking?"

" _White._ "

"Oh." Leon smirks. "Yeah, I guess it's that, too."

Connected to the guest bedroom is its own full bathroom complete with a bathtub, shower area large enough to fit a family of four, a toilet in a separate room, and marble-coated sinks. Instead of brass fittings for the faucets and nozzles, there is plain porcelain; Emil suspects this hotel uses the most tempered kind.

Once he is finished looking at the guest bedroom, Leon leads him to the master bedroom, a place that looks nearly as big as the living area in the middle of the suite. A large bed complete with silken canopies rests in the middle of a room full of clean white walls and lotus pictures and paintings. The bathroom is as big as the guest bedroom and its bathroom put together with two sinks, a bathtub the size of a small pool, two equally large shower stalls, and a closet that looks like it can fit Emil's entire room inside of it. The walk-in closet is empty save for two changes of robes, perhaps one for each partner if a couple checked into this room. All towels, glasses, and changes of slippers and complimentary goods are also provided in pairs.

"Finished looking yet?" Leon asks him when Emil returns to the living room.

"It really is the penthouse suite…" Emil softly says.

This makes his friend burst out laughing. "What, you mean you didn't know we were going to take it? Ice, this is the life of luxury. There was, like, this really old saying they had way back when…How'd it go? You only live once, I think. So, d'you like it?"

"I…" Emil looks around, trying to find something to lean his opinion in the other direction, but the room is absolutely gorgeous. He may never get a chance to see this kind of place again, let alone ever hope to afford it. So, for now, he accepts Leon's generosity and goes with a compliment and some gratitude.

"I-It's really nice," he says in an unsure voice. "Really, thank you for taking me here." He is about to say more, but Leon pats him hard on the back, making his sputter a light cough.

"Aw, and you were the one who was all like 'Ooh, I don't wanna come here, Leon. My brother will kill me.' You still thinking that?"

At the mention of his brother, a crucial question springs up to the surface of Emil's mind.

"My brother!" he exclaims. "Crap! If he finds out where I went, he's really going to kill me! Leon, how long are we staying here for?"

"The entire night, Ice. That's why I even bothered renting out this place."

Did he hear that right?

"Wait, wait, wait." He takes a breath and exhales. "When you said 'the entire night,' were you seriously saying the entire night?"

"What else would I be saying?"

"Leon. No."

"And I say yes. I worked my ass off to get this day for us."

"But Lukas will—"

"Do you have a brother complex or something? You've been bringing him up a lot, you know."

Emil's brow twists into a deepened furrow. "Unlike you with your cousins, Lukas is all I have, Leon. And unlike you, I have to live with him. You can just go somewhere else if you want, like what you're doing right now."

Leon does not see it that way, but he is not in the mood to argue. He can very well live with his guardian, but even if they live in the same suite, their schedules never make time for each other. There are even times when Leon and Yao never see each other for months.

"Why did you rent this place out?" Emil asks. "And tell me the truth. This isn't a date or outing or…whatever it is you want to call this. This is something people like married couples do."

"It's a date," Leon stubbornly insists.

"I—th—!" Emil's voice chokes up when his friend calls it a date. "Have you ever  _been_  on a real date, Leon?"

"Have  _you_?"

"Well….no," he shamefully admits, "but at least I was trying to be faithful to my soul mate." He flops his hand over at his friend. "But if I knew I was going to be stuck with someone like you, I might have opened my options up a little."

Leon flicks his head back. "Say what you want, Ice. Any woman you would've ended up with would never compare to me."

"No, they wouldn't." Emil does not care at this point if Lean can detect his sarcasm. He sees his friend preparing to make a comeback when the sound of his phone going off silences them both.

"Ooh, you'd better get that, Ice," Leon huffs. "It's either Lukas or Mathias 'cause those are the only two people in your life, am I right?"

"Shut up," he grunts and answers it. He wants to go to another room, but he thinks Leon will go out of his way to boldly follow him. So, instead, he stays put and takes the call. "Hello? Lukas?"

A death voice as cold as ice speaks into his ear, sending a shiver through his ear that drops to his neck and makes him shudder. "Ice. Where. Are you?"

Emil swallows. What is he supposed to tell him? He looks over at Leon who silently mouths what appears to be "Trip." With no better answer to offer, Emil shakily and hesitantly answers, "Uh…Trip?"

"You don't sound so sure," Lukas blatantly declares. "Where are you in Trip?"

Leon then mouths "zoo."

"The zoo," Emil automatically answers.

"The zoo," Lukas echoes. "What are you doing at the zoo right after your last day of school?"

"Celebrating," he says.

"That's unlike you." A pause. "Are you with anyone?"

"Yes." He does not want to lie to him about that. "I'm with a friend."

"You don't have friends," Lukas says with stinging words. "You're with Leon, aren't you?"

Emil bites his bottom lip. "So what if I am?"

"It's a date, isn't it?"

The words come so abruptly that at first, Emil is not sure if he heard him correctly. Flustered and struggling to untangle his tongue, he needs to take a moment before he can reply to his brothers' question.

"N-No, he just invited me to go somewhere since it's my last day. He's off for the day, so, since the two of us are free, it just worked out, is all." The truth slowly starts to spill from his mouth like water pouring out of a leaking basket. From the corner of his eyes, he can see Leon grinding his teeth together, trying to prevent himself from butting in, taking the phone, and seizing the reins of the conversation. There is no doubt that his quick-tongued friend can do a better job of explaining things to Lukas, but if these situations arise in the future, Emil thinks he might as well try to take control while he still can.

"Wait there, then," Lukas says. "I'm coming to get you. It's been a while since I've been to the zoo, myself."

"No!" Emil shouts into the phone, his heart suddenly bursting into a rapid-fire of beats per minute. "Y-You're going to ruin everything. I can take care of things. Just let Leon and me do things without you looking over me." His lips trembling, he adds on a shaky "P-Please…"

There is a long pause in the phone. For a moment, Emil thinks his brother has hung up and is on his way to Trip Zoo, but as the silence continues, Emil thinks he can hear something other than static in the phone.

"C'mon…the kid is…fun!"

"…piece of…Not going to let some…"

"…but…!"

"…once."

"Mathias?" Emil softly whispers. Just then, his brother's voice comes back online.

"Here's the thing, Ice," he says. "You will send me a picture of you and Leon every five minutes—"

" _Five minutes?_ " he echoes in utter shock.

"You have ears, Ice. Use them for something. Again, every five minutes, you will send me a picture of you and Leon. I want to know what sort of animals you're seeing, too, while you're at it."

"But—!" Emil's head is racing. Where they are, it is impossible to get to Trip district in five minutes, let alone recreate a scenario where it looks like they are at the zoo. If Lukas finds out he is lying to him, they will be in hot water. Emil can practically feel the scorching hot pressure caving in on him. His head is beginning to hurt, as it has not recovered from his finals.

"One picture every five minutes," Lukas says again. "You can do that, can't you, Ice?"

"Uh…yeah, but…isn't five minutes a little excessive? I don't know how long we're going to be here." He thinks about bringing up the subject of staying overnight in the hotel. "Um…Lukas…"

"Who are you talking to?" his brother asks in a mockingly innocent voice.

Emil curses. "Brother, what would you say to me staying in…" He momentarily pauses to look at Leon who is mouthing "Trip" again. "…Trip for the night—?"

"No."

The rate at which Lukas answers that barely finished question makes Emil cringe. Staying overnight appears to be out of the question.

"We—" Emil swallows. "It won't be in the same room or anything. Leon showed me the place earlier, and it's really nice. I can…I can send pictures of the place if you want."

"If you want to stay over, you'll have to let me watch you for the night." His brother sounds serious about that statement.

"The entire night?" Emil frowns. "You mean like video chat?"

"Yes."

"But that's creepy!"

"Then I expect you home by six tonight. That's when the zoo closes, doesn't it?"

Emil lets out another curse. He looks doubtfully at Leon, hoping he has a solution to this predicament. Finally, Leon cannot take it anymore. He stretches his arm out and beckons for the phone. Emil eagerly hands it over, not want to walk over the broken glass scenario that is building lies to his brother.

"Hello, is this Lukas?" Leon speaks. While tensions are not any lower—and higher if anything—Emil breathes a small sigh of relief. However, unlike Emil, Leon shuts off the speaker and talks privately to Lukas. Until Leon's conversation is over, Emil can only speculate at what they might be saying.

"Uh-huh. I promise, Lukas, your brother will arrive back completely unharmed. A video recording is something we can manage."

Emil scowls at how formally he can sound. His original tone of contempt and arrogance melts away when talking with people of importance. He wonders if this happens with all cases like this. Then again, that is the magic of being an actor.

"…Yes. I will do that. There is only professionalism in our relationship, Lukas, I can assure you that much. Oh, and tell Mathias I'm still looking forward to visiting his family's bakery.

"…Heh. Yeah, but what are you going to do about that? I know. I can relate. The fame gets to you. Sure. Yes. Have a nice—Oh." Leon stops and removes the phone. "Ice, your brother wants to talk to you."

Emil cautiously takes the phone and answers it. "Hello?"

"Alright, your 'friend' promised he wouldn't do anything to you, Ice, but just in case, I'm having Mathias watch you, and I'll be watching Leon for the night."

Emil does not like the sound of that proposal one bit. This is turning out to be a nightmare of an outing. He is not sure what he can even call it anymore. "Security surveillance" sounds more appropriate for what has become of his day.

"How are you and Mathias going to stay up all night?" he thinks to ask.

"Coffee and a new creation of Mathias' will do the trick." Emil thinks he must mean the bunny buns. "Well, if that's all clear, you're free to enjoy the rest of your date, Ice."

"It's  _not_ a date, Lu—Brother," Emil snorts. "It's just an outing."

"Call it whatever you want," he casually replies akin to Leon's manner of speaking, "you can't hide what it really is, but I should tell you something important before I go, Ice. Is the speaker on?"

Emil presses the phone down on his ear. "No."

"Well, that Leon character isn't someone who can be trusted. Whatever he's saying to you, and whatever fancy things he's pulling out of his ass, don't trust his character. He's a celebrity, Ice. With his face always in front of a camera, there's no telling what sort of person he is when the lights are off."

"He's Leon Wang, Brother," Emil frowns. "There's no one to hide from me. I've never seen his movies, so there's nothing to judge him by, just who he is right now."

Lukas falls into an uneasy silence before starting back up. "Tell me: is the Leon Wang you know really the real Leon Wang?"

Emil blinks. "Of course he is. I told him that."

"You told him?"

"Y-Yes. More or less in different words—but with the same meaning."

"Ice…I know you mean well of yourself and of Leon, but you need to be careful. If nothing else, that is the only thing I can tell you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Brother, you do," Emil begrudgingly sighs, wishing his brother will hang up and leave them in peace. Even after he hangs up, there will still be the matter of taking that periodic five-minute picture. He is not looking forward to that.

"I hope you're telling the truth because Leon certainly doesn't. Goodbye, little brother."

"Bye," Emil says and gratefully hangs up. Once he pulls the phone away, it takes a moment for him to realize his palms are cold and clammy from his apprehension.

"So what'd he say?" Leon asks.

Not one to tell him of what Lukas warned him about, Emil tells a little lie. "He said something about making sure I squeeze every heta out of you while you're still young and in shape."

Leon bursts out laughing to his relief. "Ha! So that's what he thinks? Shit, Ice, I think I'll be rich long after I lose both those things."

With no idea on how to respond to that, Emil keeps quiet and thinks about how they are going to explain their absence from Trip Zoo.

"Um, so about that picture thing…How are we going to…?"

"Got it covered," Leon chuckles. The meager amount of energy he invests in these nail-biting matters boils Emil's blood. Is there nothing this guy takes seriously? "You see, all we have to do is send your brother a photo with a time stamp pretty much."

"Yeah? But how are we supposed to prove that we're at the zoo and not here in Neon?"

"You don't give my genius enough credit, Ice. Just a little photo manipulation and programming, and we're good to go." To prove his point, Leon takes his business phone out, grabs Emil by the shoulder without telling him, and snaps a quick photo with Emil's eyes in complete shock in contrast to Leon's haughty smile.

"Wha…! Leon, what the heck!" He launches his hand out to Leon in anger and embarrassment, but the celebrity takes a small step back and trips him with the tip of his shoe.

"Oops," he grimaces as Emil lands with an "Oof!"

"Leon, don't send that!" Emil cries. "If Lukas finds out we're not in Trip—!"

"Relax, Ice, he's not." He then fiddles with a few buttons on his phone (hidden from Emil's view) and shuts his screen off. All the way, Emil is gathering himself together and not looking too happy about the little stunt he pulled.

"You're insane, you know that?" he growls through his teeth. "I can't believe you. First you have me get kidnapped, then you have me forced into some modeling agency I don't know about, then you invite me on a simple outing,  _then_ you sneak us into Neon even though were  _clearly_ underage,  _then_  you take us to a hotel and tell us we're going to stay overnight, and now this! Do you like making me worry about what's going to happen next?"

"Maybe. It's pretty interesting."

"You—! I—! That's it! I've had it!"

Emil honestly does not know why he chose to lunge out at Leon. Maybe it was because of the stress he had bottled up inside that was left over from his finals, maybe it was because he wanted a physical means of carrying out his message instead of having it throw back from deaf ears and a quick tongue.

Or maybe it was because he wanted to wipe that smug look clean off of Leon's face with his bare hands.

"Easy, Ice!" Leon laughs while he blocks Emil's fists one by one. He has been through worse cases with professional martial artists. This is just a walk in the park for him. The only difference is that he needs to be careful to restraint himself in case he hurts Emil. He promised Lukas nothing would come of his dear little brother, and he means to keep that promise if he wants to stay on his good side. It will prove convenient for future endeavors.

"I hate you, you stupid jerk!" Emil shouts at him, struggling to pass through his hands and claw at his face. His eyes are festering with an innate ferocity that only comes out when he is genuinely furious—something that just about never happens.

"You think you can do anything just because you're strong and rich and good-looking! How dare you do this to me!"

"I'm glad you think I'm good-looking, but I don't see why you're so mad about it, Ice. You're not half-bad, yourself." He wants to prove his point, but Emil is not in the mood to listen.

"Oh, you don't see why I'm mad, do you?" Emil snarls as Leon grabs ahold of his wrists and pins him down.

Leon, who has pressed Emil's back against the floor, looms over his friend and locks his legs with his thighs in case he tries to kick him. This is a standard procedure he practices when sparring sometimes, however, in this instance, Emil is considerably weaker and lighter than the men he fights.

"Ow…! Ow, ow, ow, ow! Leon, you ass!" Emil gasps, shutting his eyes and looking away. His face is flushed with a hint of rosy pink of shame. Despite his struggles, he is powerless to get through to Leon with his voice and now with his strength.

Why?

It is not fair.

Leon blinks. His golden eyes focus on Emil and study his expression. He does not look like he is in any pain, though his eyes are squeezed shut, and his breath is short and drawn in quick succession. Something wet, he catches with his quick sight, slides down his creamy doll-like cheek. It is too far from his forehead to be sweat. To Leon's bewilderment, the boy is crying.

"Leon, you're hurting me," he barely utters, his eyes still shut, and his lips trembling.

But he does not release his grip on Emil's wrists. He rather likes him in this position, exposed and helpless to his strength. This feeling is different from the triumph he feels when he bests a formidable opponent. Physical strength, while useful, cannot win this challenge alone. This is something that will take time and a great amount of patience. Leon has plenty of that and some more to throw around. Emil is his soul mate, after all.

"…not fair…"

He blinks again. Words came out of Emil's mouth in a faint, trailed-off slur that fades from his lips. Leon chooses to be careful and compensating.

"Ice, I'm not letting go until you tell me exactly what's wrong."

"I…" He sniffs. "I have no idea who you are."

Well, that is a first if Leon ever heard it all before. He knows Emil is unfamiliar with his career as a celebrity, however he has a feeling he means something else.

Emil continues with shaky iterations and hiccups. "I just w-wanted someone who I knew would be with me. I didn't care if she…or he…was going to be my friend or someone I'd eventually fall in love with. I just wanted to have someone else I could be myself around…but I can't even do that if I don't know who that person is!"

His voice cracks. The skin around his wrists is sore and red. His palms are a ghostly white from the lack of blood circulating in his veins. Leon's strong hands continue to squeeze hard until he feels the thin bones in the middle. The human body is a remarkable thing, so resilient yet so fragile at the same time. To Leon, however, Emil is even more than that.

"Ice…do you really hate me?"

The question leaves his lips unexpectedly, and he does not expect an answer right away. Two more tears fall from Emil's eyes, and even more hiccups and sniffles follow. Emil is not an ugly crier; rather, he is quite attractive. In his weakened image, his fragility opens up a delicate side of him that blooms in pink splashes on otherwise porcelain skin. Seeing how helpless he is begs for Leon to crush him and destroy him with a childish impulse, but he holds it back and lets his tears run dry and his breathing slow down to a predictable rhythm.

With a stabilizing composure and perfectly round cheeks blushing a white-hot red, Emil opens his eyes, the tears reflecting a glimmering light in his pale lilac orbs. Something in Leon seizes up, and in a short moment, a nagging underlying feeling in his mind confirms itself. Fiery pools of molten gold reflect in cold stones of lavender, and to the other, the same. Leon knows the answer already because as far as he is concerned, this is the way things are supposed to be. How he makes of this from here on out is up to him. He will take the reins and the responsibilities. Emil, he knows, is far too fragile to handle things on his own. It is at this moment when Leon vows to nurture Emil Steilsson into the ideal entity of his existence—that existence being to exist for him, Leon Wang.

And when Emil reaches that point, it will be beautiful.

"No," he says.

As expected.

"No, I don't hate you. I don't—"

His words stop there. This is not the first time Leon has done this, and he is sure it will not be the last. The only thing he hears is the stifled sound of Emil's surprised gasp when his lips are sealed off. The taste…Leon cannot put it quite into words, but he thinks he can identify a hint of butter and sugar. Bread, perhaps. In a millisecond of his thoughts, he reminds himself to pay a visit to Mathias' bakery before immersing himself into the rest of the moment. As for touch, Emil's lips are as delicate and soft as flower petals but all the more tantalizing. Beyond Emil's skin smelling of a soft flowery soap mixed with the tempting saltiness of his tears, Leon thinks he can smell lotus flowers in bloom.

* * *

Just like that, with a bit of background checking and patience, his expectations are made clear—Emil is not in Trip. The photos he is sent are clear fabrication images. As if that ignorant celebrity thought he could trick him like a naïve fool.

Lukas clenches his fists and steps through the large golden gate leading into the other side, into the other district. Behind him, Mathias is barred off by security guards, yelling protests and telling Lukas to wait for him, but Lukas ignores his voice and marches forth. He does not need a directory to tell him where he wants to go. The tallest building stands high above the designer retail stores and restaurants; its name is spoken from the mouths of multiple businesspeople and showing up far too many times in the mass media world. The powers that be are more influential, spreading their financial and social wisdom throughout the elite district, to the city, to the country, and even to the world.

Lukas Bondevik knows where he needs to go to, to the place where he can find the root of this all, and to the person that will ultimately know of Leon and Emil's true whereabouts: Yao Wang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *That completely INCORRECT unofficial name for Hong Kong. "Kaoru" isn't Cantonese. It isn't even Chinese for that matter. It's based off of a mistranslation from Hong Kong meaning "Fragrant Harbor" in Chinese that carried over to loosely sound like "Kaoru" in Japanese. I only ever use it in my stories to poke fun of it.


	12. XII

Does the world continue to move long after one person's has stopped?

* * *

The zeros on his watch remain frozen.

He traces his lips with the tips of his thin fingers. The sensation he felt still lingers as a ghost brushes his skin and shocking him with small jolts of nervous electricity.

It happened. It really happened.

Leon  _kissed_  him.

He does not know how to react. All the advice in the world cannot tell him what to properly think. The fire in his belly is replaced with a nauseous cloud of confusion and embarrassment. He wants to die. Curling himself up in his room and locking himself away seems like the best solution. No one will miss him because no one will have remembered him to begin with. Lukas and Mathias can move on. Leon definitely will.

Leon, that little shit.

Of all people…

Of all the fucking people in the world with all the other assholes out there, it had to be him. His numbers had to stop with his.

Emil feels like ripping his tongue out. He wants to kill someone, douse the uneasy sickness in his heart and numb the pain. He wants to forget.

This never happened. The tantrum he threw, the words they exchanged, the kiss they shared—

"Fuck you!"

His lungs explode. The volume of his voice cuts into his throat and hurts him. His lungs are already weak from crying once, and yet, they continue to supply him with the air necessary to do it again. His heart hammering and his stomach wrenching into knots, he buries his face into his hands and screams.

* * *

The tea is delicious. It always is. Its bitterness soothes him and calms his nerves. Once, he was told it opens up different passages in his body: the mind, the heart, and the appetite. Most, he thinks, were empty before coming here. His stomach, once dormant and satisfied, now growls to be filled.

The other passages open more slowly. His heart continues to beat at a steady rhythm much like the way it started out when he first sat down for this meeting. The room is so quiet that he can hear his own blood pulsing through his eardrums,  _thump-thump thump-thump._

His mind is the last to open. It takes coaxing and reason to make it work the way he should. All of his life, he blocked it from the rest of the world to keep himself safe. Only he and he, alone, knew its inner workings. The one person who comes close to prying inside is sitting across from him with folded hands and a stern face. He is knocking at his mind's door.

"Leon," Cheng says, "what you did was wrong."

"I know." He chooses these words because the objective truth is always the best to accept. All the same, he chose to act in the wrong.

"Why did you do those things to Emil?" his cousin asks.

Why? Why does everyone want to know "why" all of the time? Why not "how?" He can explain the details of his plight in a more amusing fashion than explaining why he did those things. It is more interesting to someone who prefers learning through hands-on experiences, but Leon digresses.

"Because it was interesting."

Cheng lets out a heavy sigh. It is rare for him to express feelings of stress. He is usually looking for something appropriate to say when consulted. Dealing with Leon is treading on entirely different waters, however. He needs to watch himself on careful tiptoes barely making any ripples. Still, there are times when he knows he has to stir the surface.

"Just because you thought it was interesting doesn't mean it was interesting for Emil."

"I know."

"How do you feel about what you did?"

Leon shrugs. He, himself, does not exactly know why he did what he did. As for how he feels about it, he cannot put it into exact words.

"Not bad."

Cheng blinks his honey-gold eyes. "But you're not feeling good about it, either," he immediately notices.

"Yeah," he confirms with a short nod.

Now comes the process of asking about things other than just Leon. Cheng wonders how his cousin will interpret the events and consequences of his rash actions.

"How did Emil react after you kissed him?" The word sounds foreign on his tongue. It is not a word he often hears, let alone uses for any purpose. Leon, as he knows, is not a first-timer, but knowing that Emil is his soul mate is bound to generate a different kind of reaction as opposed to the actresses he made exchanges with.

"He didn't like it, that much I know," Leon tells him. "He didn't say anything to me, and then, he just…" His mind fades towards the time when his lips left his soul mate's. There was something about doing it that makes him look fondly back. It was not the first time he kissed a guy, and he is sure it will not be the last. Still, there is something far more significant about kissing his soul mate than all the rest. Emil belongs to him. He is his to toy with and dote on however he chooses. Whatever becomes of their relationship, they are destined to stay together. It is just how things are with the watches. He does not even have to love Emil for that to happen.

"…He just left. Locked himself up in one of the rooms and wouldn't come out. That's when I called you, and here we are now."

Cheng presses his thin lips together and nods. He always goes out of his way to ensure that his cousin is taken care of, even if it means cancelling a business negotiation with some partners in Brysogwig.

"Leon, I want you to apologize to Emil." He does not turn it into a question. Leon fully understands the situation, and he does not need to be asked otherwise.

"I will." His ability to cooperate with Cheng gets things done at a convenient pace for the both of them. The conversation should stop there, but Cheng knows his cousin enough that he did not come here just to be scolded. "Cheng, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes, Leon?"

"Even though you've never had a watch, is it alright for you to love someone?"

"Of course it is, Leon. The watches do not represent anything other than your ideal match. That does not mean you will always find the right one. You are just more fortunate than most of us."

"But what about Ice? What if I never love him?"

Cheng takes a sip from his cup. All the while, he thinks of how to respond to his dear cousin's question. "You don't know that, Leon. The love you experience might be different, just like the way I love you, Yao, and the rest of our family."

Leon's lip twitches. He is fond of knowing Cheng loves him as his own family. If no one else, then he is happy knowing at least one person accepts him for who he is in this world.

"But no matter what happens, we're stuck together, right?"

"That's up to you, Leon. And Emil."

The teenager twists a lock of his dark hair with his finger. He takes Cheng's words into consideration before taking his teacup and downing the piping hot contents in a single gulp. He means to leave until his cousin stops him a final time midway through the hall.

"One more thing, Leon," he says. To acknowledge him, Leon cranes his head back and sees that Cheng's cup is nearly empty. He waits in silence for him to speak. "What do you plan on doing with Emil?"

"Simple," he answers, "I want to make him mine."

He understands. The thought of anything belonging to Leon in such a way can only mean one thing.

"I see," he finally reacts and finishes his tea, too.

"Thanks for the tea, Cheng," Leon says and takes his leave.

"Anytime, Leon," Cheng smiles. "Anytime."

* * *

There is a flaw in the system, a breach in the line of organization, something that jumps off the beaten path and throws the rest into chaos. There is someone who should not be here standing in the top floor, demanding answers.

Leon Wang, Emil Steilsson, and Lukas Bondevik.

Those specific names float around in Kiku's head as he juggles appointments and interviews, cancelling some and rescheduling others on gliding fingertips and hasty phone calls. This will not do at all. Being the Wang family agent is hard enough as it is.

"When will he be back?" the dead-eyed blonde asks him with a voice equally as lifeless. Upon seeing him for the first time, Kiku thought he was looking at a warped reflection of himself, but this man is taller and radiating with a cold elegance. His character deviates far from his own. That is a good thing, Kiku thinks. He does not want to be associated with this kind of individual.

"Yao will be finished with his appointment at five," Kiku tells him. "Until then, please take a seat and—"

"You know why people hate you little shits in Volt?" the man's icy voice cuts him off with a biting sting.

The agent, not one willing to make a scene, apologizes and folds his hands. He chooses to give this person a bit of attention so the steam he blows of will not affect Yao as much. He owes his boss at least this. "You big shots with your money and time can't be bothered to think about anything or anyone but you and your own interests," the blonde snaps. "Even now, you're thinking of something other than what I plan on doing with your boss, aren't you?"

Kiku does not want to tell a lie, but if he says "yes," then it will confirm this man's suspicions. "No, Mr. Bondevik, I've been listening to every word you've been saying, and as much as I would be willing to assist you, I have other matters at hand that I need to atte—"

"See? This is what I mean." With his rigid posture and unnerving eyes, it appears as though he is mocking the agent. Kiku has dealt with people like him before, though not exactly someone of "common" standards. What is this man even doing here, anyway? As for Emil Steilsson, Kiku already confirmed that he and this man are related by their mother, but he does not know why this involves Leon, too.

What has that boy gotten himself into this time, he wonders? All the while, his fingers fidget over his knuckles as the unwanted visitor paces impatiently around the room.

"Mr. Bondevik, I apologize for any inconveniences we may have caused you, but can you at least tell me what this is abut so I may relay the situation to my boss in a clearer manner?"

"You don't need to know," he snorts. "It doesn't involve you."

Kiku remains rigid in form but flexible in vantage points. "I am the Wangs' family agent. Anything that goes through anyone in this family comes through me. I believe I have a right to know if this threatens the Wangs' security in any shape, form, or manner."

The young man then stops and takes a glance in his direction. Through his flowing blonde bangs, Kiku thinks he can see the reflection of death staring hard into his lifeless eyes. The connection between the two of them remains unmoving for what feels like the longest time until the faint chime of an elevator rings. Relieved, Kiku backs down and blinks, moving his eyes past the shoulder of Lukas and towards the hallway. Help must have finally arrived.

Sure enough, Lien has returned from her trip. She is without Kasem, but Kiku suspects she decided to take matters into her own hands so her partner can finally relax. These past few days of shooting the movie have been stressful for everyone in the studio.

"Lien," he calls to her as she approaches Lukas from behind, "can you please escort this man down to the lounge and wait with him until Yao gets back?"

The secretary studies this new person with a slight interest, as it is rare that anyone outside of her family comes to the top floor. However, her visual exchange barely lasts when Lukas snaps at Kiku for his lack of conduct. As if he is one to talk.

"I'm staying right here," he hisses. "Do you hear me? What I'm going to tell your boss may ruin your little star's image and bring down the rest of your pathetic careers."

Lien remains quiet, true to her character, but Kiku narrows his eyes and stares at this man again. "Look, Mr. Bondevik, I've been very patient with you. I don't know how you managed to get past security, but you have to understand that we are all very busy people. It's very rude of you to go out of your way like this to come here, and from what I can gather, what you just said is considered a threat; we can have you put in custody for that."

"Try me," he spits, and that is all the agent needs to hear.

"Lien."

Barely as soon as he calls the secretary's name, she whips right behind Lukas' neck and delivers a swift, silent strike to a spot in between his collarbone and his shoulder. The once threatening man immediately falls flat onto the carpet in a slump, collapsing like a compressed accordion. The agent can now breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," he sighs. "Thank you, Lien. I'm sorry for making you do that. Would you take him to the lounge like I asked? I don't think Yao is going to like it if he wakes up and starts making a racket in here."

"Sure," she shortly nods and lifts the out-cold young man over her shoulder. While petite in frame, Lien possesses a brimming amount of strength that gains respect even from Leon. With little effort, she manages to carry Lukas' body to the elevator and successfully into the lounge where she lays him on a sofa. Since today is a day off, she can afford to watch over Lukas until Kiku gives her further instructions. And just like that, everything returns to normal. Security does not need to be called, no unnecessary contacts need to be made or researched on, and the floor remains silent for the rest of the afternoon until Yao returns.

* * *

The market district feels particularly quiet today. Perhaps, like the rest of the family, everything is moving at its own pace to its own clock. Cheng, too, is moving at his own pace to his own accord, though he often finds himself confusing his schedule with his family's. Today, he thinks, he may not be moving along to his own pace at all, but to Leon's.

Here in the Wire district, most of the streets are stacked with shopping malls high and low, from towering strips of clothing stores and department stores with furniture and groceries to basements and underground subway routes zipping through the buildings and concrete to every network location.

Cheng, however, is not here for shopping today. On this fine day, under his simple guise of a curious family member, he is here to pay a visit to someone of considerable importance. Atop a hill in the back of the district where the edge of the city lies, there is a little workshop where an intelligible man spends his days in seclusion: the watchmaker.

Everyone who is someone receives a watch on his or her date of birth. Like a granted birth certificate, it comes in a little velvet drawstring bag just big enough for a traditional watch to fit snuggly inside. Nowadays, everything is digital, but to those lucky enough to have their soul mate predetermined, that one piece of traditional mechanical contraptions becomes the core item of their existence. Cheng recalls Leon always having his watch at hand even during his travels and movie shoots. Long before he was even going to meet his soul mate, he kept it somewhere in his pocket. Even now, when the numbers have stopped, he keeps it safely attached as if it has become a part of him. It is for this very precious object that Cheng has come all the way out to Holo's edge. Thanks to Leon's earlier meeting, he has the rest of the afternoon to pay the watchmaker a visit. They can all use a little time off now and then.

The watchmaker's workshop is a quaint, cozy little place hidden beyond overgrowing trees and bushels of flowers. Flowering shrubs grow untamed and without bioengineering; Cheng can tell because of the occasional wilting despite the gardener's great care. Scattered dead leaves and petals crunch beneath his shoes against the cobblestone steps that lead up to the main cottage. The further he walks up, the less he becomes aware of the concrete and blinking lights. Somewhere, he thinks he can hear a songbird sing, but the probability of it being real is close to zero. There are few natural-born animals left in the wild.

Further up the steps, he feels as though he is stepping into a painting. Like rough pastels melting and blending soft yet vibrant colors together, the cottage comes into view from the parting vines and little ground flowers. A warm rainbow of pinks, reds, purples, and crimson oranges dot the stucco-like walls, and bushels of poppies blooming in overturned barrels offer an inviting and friendly atmosphere. Beyond this point, past the wooden door is the city's one and only watchmaker. Taking a deep breath, Cheng gathers his composure and arrives at the door. He looks down before knocking and sees that the doormat is made of rough, dry grass and knitted together in fanciful colors. A faint smile arrives on his lips when he sees the image of a little white dog with black eyes and a cute button nose. After that, he returns his attention to the matter at hand and gives the metal handle a knock. From the other side, he hears a faint voice of someone talking. With the constant barrage of background noises from the city behind him, Cheng can make out some of the words.

"You can stay right there. I'll get it. Oh, no need. It's fine."

There must be two people inside the cottage at least, Cheng thinks as the door creaks open with what sounds like great effort. He is surprised to see that there are even places with genuine wooden doors still around. It must be one of the privileges of being a watchmaker.

As soon as the light reaches his greeter's face, Cheng sees that this person is rather short. His height is barely taller than that of Mei's, and his round beaming face gives the impression that he is quite young. His hair has a similar fashion and shade of blonde similar to Emil's, though it is more tamed and rounded out at its sides. Similar to his cousin's soul mate, his eyes are a light shade of violet, but his irises hold a softer shade of blue than pure lavender. Cheng estimates that he is around Mei's age, too, and the familiarity offers him some comfort when he presents himself.

"Good afternoon. My name is Cheng Wang. If I'm not mistaken, this is where the watchmaker's workshop is, correct?"

"Yes, it is. Nice to meet you, Mr. Wang." To Cheng's relief, he sounds friendly, but he realizes this person cannot be the watchmaker. As soon as he extends his hand to shake it, he feels that his skin is remarkably soft and delicate like a baby's. He cannot even be an assistant to the watchmaker for that matter. If so, who is he, he wonders?

"Are you here to acquire information about a relative's watch?" the young man asks.

Cheng does not wish to fabricate any information for the sake of getting the truth out. "Yes, I'm here to ask about my cousin's watch. His name is Leon Wang."

At the mention of his cousin's name, the young man's face falls still in thought.

"Would you like to come inside?" he asks after his silent spell fades away. He backs up a bit and gestures into the cozy living space.

"If it's not too much trouble, then yes, please," Cheng politely responds. The man smiles and leads him inside. All the while, Cheng wonders if he should keep his shoes on or not, but after seeing that the floors are made of smooth wood, he decides it is best to keep them on.

"We don't get too many visitors your age," the man says as he leads his guest further into the cottage. "Most of the people who come around are in their teens or forties."

"I'm getting there," Cheng lightly laughs as he looks around. The ceiling is low as he can barely walk without getting the feeling that he might hit his head on the rafters. Through and through, he smells something sweet; it is not one of cooking but one of woody incense like his house. Scattered about are cushions and even some stuffed animals. He wonders if there are any children in this place.

"Oh, you don't look a day above twenty-five," the young man laughs in turn with a bright smile.

"I appreciate it, sir."

He laughs again. "You don't have to call me 'sir,' Mr. Wang. I—Oh, silly me. I haven't even told you my name. I'm Tino. Tino Väinämöinen."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Väinämöinen," Cheng formally responds. "If I may ask, where is the watchmaker?"

"He's in his workshop. I don't think he'll be able to see you just yet since he's working on an order, but if you're just here to talk about an existing watch, I can help you with that. I'm like his little bookkeeper."

"That will do." He then allows Tino to lead him into a separate area full of books with the same height, width, and thickness. Thinking they must be records, he approaches one and reads the spines. Each one has a date printed on it. There are those dating all the way back to the last years of the Common Era, back when granting people watches was still gearing towards perfection. Interestingly enough, as he scans the books, he sees that even the latest years are constructed with bound paper. Real paper is yet another rare commodity that is almost never put into use, yet here it is stashed in this library of records.

"What year was this Leon Wang born in?" Tino asks as he bends down to look at the latest records.

"Four-hundred seventy five," Cheng tells him and waits for the records to be pulled up. While Tino is doing that, he asks another question. "Are you really fine with using traditional books here? If something were to happen, all of the records would be lost."

Tino chuckles. "The watchmakers just have a fondness for being able to interact with things using their hands. You can't really do that with technology nowadays. That's probably also why the watches are made the way they are. But if you're worried about the records, I do record everything on a separate database. Just not here. He prefers not to have any obstructing technology here."

Another question is building itself up when something bumps against his foot. Startled, he looks down to see a small ball of white fur cuddled against his shoe. When it looks up, it gives a small yip and winks its beady black eyes at him. The dog looks just like the one from the doormat in the front.

"Oh, I see you've found Hanatamago," Tino chuckles and bends down to give the dog a small pat on its forehead. "She's really friendly, so you don't have to worry."

"Not at all," Cheng smiles. "It's a real dog, isn't it?"

Tino beams. "Yes, she is! It was really hard finding one, but we really wanted a real one." He lets out a deep sigh. "Sometimes being a watchmaker has its advantages." He suddenly snaps up and shakes his head. "Oh, where was I? I was supposed to be looking up the records. Silly me."

Cheng holds up a hand. "No need to rush. I have time."

"I appreciate it, Mr. Wang," he lightly smiles and pulls out a book with the characters, "475 T.E.," printed on the spine. "Let's see…W, W, W…Here we are. Leon Wang. Paired with Emil Steilsson at nineteen years of age. Both of them, in fact. And…Oh. He should have already found his soul mate, correct?"

"Yes, he did. But that's something I've been confused with. Forgive my directness, but is it natural for the watches to pair two men together?"

Tino blinks his violet orbs and pauses. In the corner of Cheng's eyes, he sees him fiddling with something in his pocket like an absentminded action to spend the time away. "The watches just choose whomever they think will match the other the most. Some for different reasons than others, but no matter what becomes of it all, the match-up is always the best."

Cheng pauses. "So it's happened before," he concludes.

"I would think so," Tino brings up. "I'm one of them."

Before Cheng can react, a door at the other end of the cottage opens, and a heavy set of footsteps treads across the thick wooden floors.

"Tino? Where are my spare screws?" Cheng hears that the voice belongs to the other person he heard from the outside. The man comes into the library and exposes himself as a tall and intimidating looking individual. While appearing to be only in his early twenties, his face is sculpted in a thick, broad cut across his cheekbones and jawlines. Paired against his scruffy blonde hair is a set of icy blue eyes hiding behind rectangular glasses. His expression appears as hardened as his physique, having broad shoulders, stiff muscles, and worn fingers. This man, Cheng believes, is the watchmaker.

"He's the visitor?" the watchmaker asks in a few grunts and broken syllables. His voice is a deep baritone as Cheng expects, and his aura is even deeper. However, beyond his towering build (which actually is not much compared to how tall Cheng, himself is), he can detect a tender spirit that comes with being a builder.

"Yes, Berwald, he is," Tino nods. "Mr. Wang, this is Berwald Oxenstierna, Holo's official watchmaker. Berwald, this is Cheng Wang. He's here to ask about a relative's watch."

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Oxenstierna," Cheng says and gives the man a firm handshake. By that gesture, alone, he can feel the roughness of his hands from all the watches he must have made.

"Hmm," the stern-faced watchmaker grunts and awkwardly exits the room without further inquiring Tino about the spare screws he initially came inside for. Moments later, the two of them can hear a door closing, and the room fills with silence once again.

Tino somberly moves his head back and forth with a befuddled expression. "You'll have to excuse him. Berwald's not used to strangers. He's quite shy, actually."

"Is he now?" Cheng softly smiles. "I can only imagine." He pauses to recollect his thoughts. "So you said you're soul mate is also a man?"

The young bookkeeper of sorts gives a light shrug. "You just met him."

Cheng continues to smile. "Somehow I figured that. But even so, I suspect this is rare."

"It's not a problem, is it, Mr. Wang?"

"It wouldn't be if it wasn't for my cousin."

"Leon Wang…" Tino suddenly says. "I've heard of that name somewhere. Is he famous?"

"Quite," Cheng replies.

"Is that why you're worried? I can assure you that celebrities throughout history have found their ideal soul mates in the most unexpected of places before."

"That's not it. It doesn't have to do with the people or the fact that Leon and Emil are both men. What I came here to ask about is whether or not the watches match people together based on the ideal relationship…or if it has anything remotely to do with how they love each other."

Tino blinks. "Well, I'd assume if the matches are the best that they are bound to love each other in some way. You're having doubts about that?"

"Yes," he admits. "I worry about the fate of my cousin's relationship as well as his designated soul mate. You see, my cousin has never exactly been one to emotionally attach himself to another person. I know him that much. He's extremely possessive and materialistic. On the other hand, Emil is a very sensitive and modest individual. If given the opportunity, he is destined for great things, but that's where I draw the line. I wonder if perhaps those two aren't meant to be together."

"Ah. Well…" Tino bows his head and looks to the side with a bent hip. "I don't think you can just leave it up to the watches to sort everything out, if you know what I mean."

Cheng shakes his head. "I have to admit I have very little references to the way the watches work. Leon is the only one in my close family that has a watch this generation, you see."

"Oh. There has to be some way to explain it. Maybe…It's like this. Do you know what a sauna is, Mr. Wang?"

Though the question strikes him as odd and random, Cheng tells him that he knows what a sauna is through personal experience.

"Good. Then you should know that having a good time in a sauna isn't about having the right temperature or the right humidity level—though those do help. It's mind over matter. You can't just expect to have the finest sauna in the world and have a good time. You have to tell yourself that you are having a good time. Just because everything is in the right place doesn't always mean you're going to happy. You have a choice whether to be happy or not, don't you think so?"

"I suppose," Cheng replies.

"Though, to be honest, I can't imagine why anyone would dislike being in a sauna. If it were up to me, everyone should have a sauna in their house."

"If only that were possible," he laughs in amusement at this eccentric character. "Then, with things the way they are, I suspect I'm going to have to keep a close eye on my cousin. All I want is for Leon to be happy, but I wonder if his methods of achieving it will last."

"Only time will tell, Mr. Wang."

"Perhaps, Mr. Väinämöinen."

"Is that all?" Tino looks up. "There wasn't anything else?"

Cheng looks down and sees the little white dog, Hanatamago rolling around in circles at his feet. She appears to be so tamed that he finds it difficult to believe what he is looking at truly is a real dog.

"There is one more thing I want you to do."

He has Tino's full attention. "What did you come here for?"

"The files you have on Leon Wang and Emil Steilsson. Burn them. Ink them out. Delete any files you have on their watches. I never came here. You never saw me."


	13. XIII

"I know 'Sorry' isn't enough."

"You broke down. The freaking. Door."

"…Sorry?"

There is no real to go about explaining his actions to someone as sensitive as Emil, Leon soon learned. He has to be tactful, subtle with his remarks, and above all else, genuine. The lies that he might throw at his soul mate will shatter his fragile heart and pummel him into ruin at the drop of a hat. Leon remembers the look on his friend's face when his lips left his for the first time. The expression was one he has never made before, only one he has acted or heard about. It was something that no one ever expressed to him other than the times he was a child getting his knee scraped or a cut in his pretty face.

Horror. It was horror.

By then, the tears dried up, making way for a new gut-wrenching feeling. It was Emil's first kiss. Leon supposes his reaction was appropriate and interesting to his amusement, but his better conscious tells him that he should have been more tactful in his approach. Still, if someone were to ask, he will reply that he did it to see Emil's genuine reaction. However horrified he was, Leon cannot help but find it cute that he displays such innocence.

At the very least, Emil does not display signs of disgust and rejection. Even he should know that regardless of what happens after this, he will remain with Leon in some form or another. He is stuck with him for the rest of his life, and frankly, Leon is just fine with that. The thought of having someone that can rest in the limbo of a friend and a lover captures his interest to a degree where he is willing to go through great lengths to experience both sides. He will start by making amends with Emil.

"Hey…Ice…" He reaches out to comfort his friend with physical contact, but the nervous wreck of a teen shies away and tightens his body into a compact ball. His eyes are not visible, but his voice is all Leon needs to detect his state of emotional instability.

"I-I thought…" He chokes up. Leon remains silent. "When I first met you…I thought…" He sniffs. "I thought you were perfect."

Leon has been called perfect among other praiseworthy descriptions; hearing it from Emil makes him want to believe it is true.

"But I was wrong."

Of course.

"I just  _wanted_  you to be perfect. Because you were mine. But you're not, Leon. Not matter how much you think you are. You're arrogant, you're narrow-minded…You don't think about anyone other than yourself. I don't care how much money you give me or where in the world we go. Your attitude is the same, and I hate it."

Leon blinks. "But you don't hate  _me_."

"I could—" Emil hiccups and clutches his knees. "I could never hate you, Leon."

"Why?"

"Because…" He curses and continues to hide his face. Beneath his shaking frail hands is a young man who wished for one thing and one thing only his entire life. "Because you're my friend. You're my only friend."

Leon continues to wait as Emil releases his discomfort in shaky iterations and a few stray tears. From time to time, he hears sniffling and hiccups, but this is not the same as before. He is embarrassed rather than afraid. A part of him seeks out comfort from someone. Anyone. To put it in simple terms, Leon popped his protective, overbearing bubble. Cold, alone, and exposed, he needs someone to reach out to him.

And in that instant, Leon reaches out with a careful hand and brushes his finger against Emil's rosy cheek. His friend stiffens and lets out a small gasp before tilting his head in the direction of his touch. At last, he reveals his eyes, puffy but still bearing the same attractive tint of lavender and lilac. However, the expression Emil wears is anything but attractive towards Leon. He flinches, tenses his muscles, and moves away in a snap.

"Don't touch me!" he breaks out. He slaps Leon's hand away and backs further into the corner of the bed as if it will swallow him up and make him disappear. His shaky breath grows short, and his eyes grow wide with fright. He is not accepting Leon's offer of consolidation. It is not that he does not want to; rather, he does not believe it will be of help.

"Ice…" Leon whispers and reaches out again. This time, though, his hand stops halfway and hovers as if waiting for Emil to close the gap. His amber eyes soften as he tries to reassure his friend by establishing firm eye contact. Nothing about him appears hostile. His heart beats at a steady rhythm. His breathing is even. Every fiber of his body opens itself up to him to show he is not a threat, and in the moment Emil lets his guard down, he lunges himself at him and embraces him in his arms.

Emil does not take it lightly—as expected from someone recovering from his first kiss. He pushes against Leon's chest and tries to beat him, but the trained martial artist forces himself so close that he cannot even bring his arms at an angle; they are collapsed against each other in bends and impossible to move. Leon makes sure Emil's legs do not kick out from underneath by locking his thighs over his waist and planting his legs on the sides. Now his friend is incapacitated save for his cracking voice that buries itself into Leon's shoulder and shatters.

"Stop it, Leon…!"

He feels something warm and wet clumping around his shirt in the form of tears and whatever bodily secretions are pouring out of his face. Leon was never one to care for comforting others, but if he wants to play his cards correctly, he will have to bide his time.

"It's okay, Ice," he says, burying his nose into his friend's snow-white hair. It faintly smells of something odd, like the time he visited his house. There is a hint of fish and the same aroma of sweet butter, not the most pleasant scent but Emil's all the same. "I'm not going to hurt you. I won't kiss you again if you don't want me to. I'm sorry for making you cry." His friend relaxes a little. "If I ever hurt you again, tell me. I'll stop. I promise."

From his muffled voice, Leon hears a doubtful, "You promise?"

"Yes," he gently smiles. "I promise. Are we still friends?"

He does not expect an answer right away, but to his astonishment, Emil takes his face away from his shoulder and looks him in the eyes. The skin around his eyes is red and puffy. His eyes are swollen with tears, and his hair is matted and tangled in little messy knots. Though he is nearly twenty, Leon cannot help but find him cute. And to think Emil is older than him.

"I want to be," he tells him.

Leon blinks. He feels a different smile trying to creep but stops it from revealing its underlying cracks. "You still want to know me?"

Emil quietly nods.

"Are you angry with me?"

This time, Emil's eyes move away in thought. He does not look back when he gives him his answer. "With the kiss, not as much as before. With being here, definitely."

He blinks again. "Why with being here?"

His friend utters a small hiccup. It sounds childishly innocent coming from him. "You said we were going to do things. We never did."

"Do you want to?"

"Right now?"

"I can make the time."

"Leon…" Emil swallows and averts his eyes. "No. I'm tired. I want to go home."

"Oh."

"Another day, maybe. But not now. I just want to get some rest."

"Hmm." Leon licks his lips. "So I screwed everything up?"

A strange passing sensation runs up his neck when Emil presses his lips into his shoulder and exhales with a hot breath. "Mm-hmm," he answers in a muffled voice. "You did, Leon."

Leon sighs. "Sorry isn't going to cut it, is it?"

"Nope. But you can start redeeming yourself by paying for that broken door." To make a point, Emil gestures his chin towards the shattered door with bent fabricated wood in multiple places and a dented door handle where Leon kicked it in. How he managed to do something like that frightens him, but another part of him feels proud that he knows someone who possesses such power. And that someone is his friend.

* * *

Lukas stirs awake when he feels the light clicking noise of long fingernails clacking against a portable keyboard. His eyelids flutter to adjust to the bathed golden light before he can finally manage to open them all the way. By the time he does this, the clicking stops, and a pair of golden eyes is hovering over him with a quizzical expression.

He groans. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in the lounge, Mr. Bondevik," a woman's voice replies. Lukas observes as the voice comes from the same person with the pair of golden eyes. Somehow, he thinks that shade of gold is familiar—like those of a certain person he is naturally inclined to hate.

"What am I doing in the lounge?" he asks as he gets up. When he sits all the way up, a sharp pain stabs into his neck. Cursing, he slaps his hand across his skin and furiously rubs the sore patch while the woman watches him.

"I was instructed to stay with you until further notice," she tells him. All the while, he is gritting his teeth in pain. The prickling sensation runs all the way down to his spine and up to his head. Nothing feels right about this. He wishes he could have had some form of warning before they decided to physically disable him.

"Sorry," the woman apologizes.

He furrows his eyebrows. "Sorry? For what?"

"For that." She points to his neck.

"This?" He frowns and remembers. She is the one who knocked him out. His neutral demeanor soon frosts over cold. "Oh. Well, you should be. I can sue you for visible injuries."

The woman is unmoved and unwavering. "Forgive me, but you should not have been on that floor in the first place. It's only reserved for family members and special employees, and you are neither. You needed a special code to get access." She, herself, does not know how this foreign man came into possession of an access code. He has to have received the coding program from someone already inside the family. Obviously, Yao and Kiku are out of the picture. Cheng would have notified her immediately. Kasem would have dropped it to her during a lunch break. Mei is still out of the country. Yong Soo is impossible. That only leaves Leon.

Could Leon have done it, she wonders? She notices how odd he has been acting as of late what with this new "Ice" character popping into the picture. His outings are also sudden and unexplained. The most he tells her is that he is going out. Out to where? A biting feeling eats away at her mind, but at the current given moment, there are more important matters at hand.

"Well, I got in, alright?" he snaps at her with a gruff, stinging voice. If it is not for his venomous expression, she thinks he might look beautiful. "Where is Yao?"

She checks the time on her phone. "Yao is still in a meeting. He will be here in another thirty minutes. Until then, I suggest you be patient and wait here, Mr. Bondevik. It will save the both of us trouble."

This Bondevik character flares his thin slits of nostrils. "You're just like the rest of them."

"I am only doing my job," she replies, thinking he is referring to how most of the employees here in Wang Studio are cold and arrogant. There is little to justify her position having been automatically given a secretary job after becoming of age.

Suddenly, Lukas asks, "What is your name?"

She tilts her head. "Lien."

"Good. I'll remember that."

So he plans on doing that, she thinks. "Mr. Bondevik, attempting to sue this studio will not do you any good."

He says nothing.

The two of them wait peacefully and undisturbed in the lounge for a good while when a member of the Wang's inner family makes his way through the revolving doors in a prim suit as always.

"Ch-Cheng…!" Lien lightly gasps and stands up to meet him. "You're supposed to be in a meeting with those people from Brysogwig, aren't you—?"

But she suddenly falls silent after a quiet apology when he gives her a warning look with thin golden eyes. The tall man then looks down to Lukas who scowls at him with unrelenting, unblinking sapphire eyes.

"Are you doing some consulting?" he asks her.

"This…? No." She shakes her head. "I'm just keeping an eye on him until Yao gets back."

The man makes a miniscule expression of something disapproving before carrying on.

"Will you tell Yao I was here to pick something up from my office if you see him, Lien?"

"Sure," she nods.

"Thank you." He delivers a businesslike smile and takes his leave, walking across the lounge and heading towards the single elevator reserved for family members. So he is one of the Wangs, Lukas thinks. Now thinking about it, somewhere in the news, he believes the name "Cheng Wang" showed up a few times before. However, at the time, he never thought it was important enough to delve into. He wonders if he should be regretting it at this time.

"Sorry for that, Mr. Bondevik."

Lukas huffs. "You sure apologize a lot. Just like a certain brother of mine."

Lien nearly apologizes when she catches his criticism. "It's just something I've grown accustomed to."

"Hmm. Do they teach all of you to use that technique?"

"Excuse me?"

"What you did to me. Do they teach all of your employees to knock someone out with a single strike?"

She appears flustered as her pale complexion darkens with a pinkish hue. Her already quiet voice falls into a softer hush, and her shoulders shrug to hide her ears. "N-No. I don't think so. My cousin taught me how to do that so I could defend myself."

"Huh. You must be really important to him then," he sighs.

"If only…" she wistfully replies. "He's not really close to any of us—except that man you just saw."

Lukas looks away and fidgets with his hands. The thought is incredibly fleeting and only lasts for a short while, but a little voice in the back of his head wishes that his brother's numbers stopped with someone like this woman's. Granted, she is older than Emil, but that would let her take responsibility without him having to worry about his well-being. Emil would have been better off with someone like her: modest and polite but with a stronger inner core. He would have been better off with someone older, too. It came as no surprise when Lukas learned that Leon is younger than Emil. He acts as such.

"If only…" he appears to echo.

"What?"

"Nothing," he dismisses.

Together, they wait again in silence. Their exchanges of short conversation fall flat as the two of them are both quiet and reserved people. Employees, vendors, representatives, and executives walk in and out of the building and through the lounge—even Cheng comes and goes. Some look important; others talk as if they are. To Lukas, they are nothing more than the scum of the earth they look down upon. None of them, however, resemble the man Lukas came to see. The only time he bothers to say something to Lien is to ask for the time since his phone has been confiscated. She continues to relay the time to him, but the gap between now and seeing Yao never appears to close.

Finally, after half an hour of waiting, he gets up and begins to march back towards the elevators.

"Mr. Bondevik?" Lien stands up. "Wait. Please. Don't leave this room."

"You're in no position to tell me what to do," he hisses at her and continues his stride. He never makes it to the elevator because in the reflection of the brass doors, he sees someone behind Lien's reflection with hair fashioned in a similar ponytail.

"Lien?" a man's voice says from behind. "What are you doing here?"

Lukas turns his head back and sees that the voice belongs to none other than Yao Wang, himself.

The secretary bows her head and apologizes. "I'm sorry, sir," she says in a peep. "Kiku told me to watch over this man in the lounge until you arrived."

The head of Wang Studio raises his thin, dark eyebrows and then looks over to Lukas. He bears the same golden eyes as the rest of the close family members, but unlike the rest, his lips are sternly creased into a natural frown. He does not appear to be that old at first glance; however, looking closer, Lukas can see the wrinkles forming around his scowling forehead and the fishtails at the edges of his eyes, betraying his true age.

"Who is he?" he asks.

"Lukas Bondevik," she tells him. "He wanted to speak with you." Her sharp golden eyes narrow like a snake's. "He was talking about knowing something that can bring down our careers."

Yao Wang is silent in his stead, his eyes moving slightly back and forth to give off that he is thinking. He suspects there are other matters far more important, but something about this entire set up piques his curiosity.

"Does he have an appointment?"

The secretary shakes her head. "No."

The head of Wang Studios then moves past Lukas and swipes his phone over the scanner. The doors instantly slide open to reveal streams of golden lights that trail to the top as seen through the glass walls. He steps inside first and waits for his secretary and the visitor to follow. Both step inside, and the elevator doors slide shut without a sound. With a sudden jolt, the floor moves up and pushes its ascent to the top floor.

The conversation starts. Yao tell Lukas to make it quick. All the while, he never so much as gives Lukas a direct look in the eyes.

"Your son has taken my brother somewhere," is what Lukas starts out with. That captures both Yao's and Lien's attention.

"What is this about my son?"

"Leon," Lukas says. "I suspect my brother is with him somewhere, and I want to know where. If anyone can put your son in his place, I'd think it's you."

Lien looks back at her boss and distant relative with a concerned look. Yao's expression has not differed.

"Why would your brother be with him?"

"Because your son is a materialistic delinquent with an attitude problem and a knack for manipulating the naïve."

"And?"

Lukas raises an eyebrow.

"It's nothing new," Yao says. "I know my son can be trouble, but it's nothing that brings a threat to any of us." He clears his throat. "That can't be all you came here to talk to be about. Who'd you say your brother was again?"

"I never told you."

"Should I be concerned?"

"That's my job. Look, I came here because—"

"Emil Steilsson."

Both men turn to Lien. She has already looked briefly into Emil's history as Kiku did.

"Never heard of him," Yao says.

This does not necessarily surprise him, but Lukas presses onward.

"Well, he's gone. I want you to find him."

"Mr. Bondevik, you are wasting my time and yours. If you want to file a missing person's case, just go to the police. Do not bring my family and yours in the same matter of affairs."

"It's not just a matter of finding my brother, it's setting yours straight. I want you to call Leon back here, and when you do, I don't want your son hanging around my brother anymore. Ever."

"My son doesn't spend time with anyone outside of the family. Why your brother, then? I've never heard of either of you."

Lukas is getting impatient. All this beating around the bush is not getting him anywhere.

"Because he is my brother's other."

The space in the elevator falls dead silent.

Yao is the first to break the silence. "Other as in…"

Lukas crosses his arms. "Most people call them soul mates."

"Impossible."

"It's the truth."

The elevator bell chimes. They are on the top floor.

"Mr. Bondevik, I might recommend you seek professional help. It's clear your mindset is not in the right place."

"Mine's better than yours if you're rejecting the idea that your son is off somewhere with my brother right now. I don't want your son with my brother anymore than you do."

"We're done here. Lien, escort him outside, and make sure he's not allowed back."

"Yes, sir."

Lukas can barely react as Yao simply walks out of the elevator and never looks back.

"You shit!" he seethes. "You can't ignore this! Call that idiot Leon! He's definitely with my brother!"

Meanwhile, Lien is trying to bar the visitor from gaining further access to the rest of the top floor. "Mr. Bondevik, please don't make me knock you out again."

"Out of my way!" he snarls, attempting to push past her without hurting her. However, Lien is fast and stronger than he is and easily ducks under his arms, takes ahold of his waist, and pushes him straight into the open elevator just as the doors are closing. There are only two destinations for the family elevator, and right at the last second, Lien sneaks her arm between the doors, presses the bottom button, and retreats, taking a final glance at the recovering Lukas before returning to her boss. Leon will have some explaining to do, it seems.

Inside the elevator, Lukas lets out a slew of curses he never dares to shout in front of his brother or anyone else for the matter. What did he accomplish from coming here? That idiot of a chief executive officer did not listen to him in the slightest. His brother is still out there, and with Yao caring less about Leon, these kinds of activities will continue to occur right under his nose. He is losing control of Emil. That damned bastard of a celebrity is taking him right from underneath him and turning him into someone he is starting to become unfamiliar with. Teeth clenching and fists balled, Lukas delivers a hard punch at the elevator wall. When he removes his fist, a throbbing pain shoots down his wrist, and he sees that his knuckles are bruised.

"Shit," he wheezes in hot gasps. His knees buckle and hit the descending floor. At this rate, he does not think he can report for work tomorrow. He wonders what he should do now. There is no doubt that the guards at the front are going to be meeting him as soon as the elevator doors open. He will be whisked away to some fancy prison if he puts up a fight. And then what will happen to Emil?

He curses. There were several other angles he could have brought that out without making a scene. Granted, he knew the only way to relay this information was to speak with Yao directly, but the man did not even heed his words. What will he do with this information, he wonders? Clearly, if he does not believe Lukas, he will not act upon it.

While thinking, he nearly fails to miss a call on his phone. Thinking it is his brother finally returning his calls, he fumbles in his pocket and brings out the screen—only to find it is Mathias calling. With a scrunched face and little energy to put up resistance, he chooses to answer it.

"What?" he grunts.

"Lukas, thank goodness!" his other's loud voice blares. "I'm in a bit of a jam! Can you come get me?"

"What jam?"

"Not the strawberry kind, that's for sure!"

He sighs. While dealing with his other is equally as exhausting, the familiarity of his friend lets his mind settle down until he can assist Mathias. He honestly does not know why he bothers going through such extents for him.

"What did you do, Mathias?"

"Well, I tried to climb through this pipe that was coming out of Volt so I could get to you, you know, and, well…I got kind of stuck trying to squeeze in. Can you come and get me?"

He sighs again. "Now my problems are solved. This is great. I don't have to worry about seeing your stupid face ever again."

"Lukas!" Mathias whines through the phone.

"Where are you?"

A pause. And then, "You mean you're coming to get me?"

"That all depends. What are you willing to do for me?"

"Well…that's a secret, Lukas! Just come and get me…It's actually hot and stuffy in here. Please, please, please?"

"You…" Lukas wants to curse his friend out, but he stops and falls silent. He has had enough today. Worst comes to worst, he can always call the police to track down Emil's phone. "Alright. You have your phone. Message me your exact coordinates. I'll be there as soon as I get out of this place. I'm hanging up."

"What? Lukas, no! Stay with me, Lukas! Lu—!"

"Idiot," he mumbles as he hangs up. As soon as the door opens, there are two large men with black suits waiting for me.

"Lukas Bondevik?" one of them says.

"That's me," he responds.

"We're to escort you outside of the building's perimeters."

"As I expected." He follows one of them outside while the other is constantly at his back. Once they go outside, a breath of fresh air fills Lukas' lungs. He is glad to be out of that incense-filled building and back on the streets again.

"We have been instructed to bring you into custody if you are to ever set foot inside this building again, Mr. Bondevik," one of the guards says. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," he spits and walks away with his phone out. Mathias has since messaged him his coordinates. Now all that is left to do is to get him unstuck and find out what to do about Emil now.

* * *

"…Is this really true?"

Kiku and Lien are quiet as they watch their boss pace back and forth behind his desk. Both of them were called inside to speak on the matters that Lukas Bondevik had brought forth to their lives. Until hearing the words from Yao, Kiku only imagined Lukas to be some insolent lunatic seeking attention amidst the rich and famous. Lien knew little more, though she did find it odd at how much Leon had doted on that quiet silver-haired boy.

"I have never heard of anything about it until just now, sir," Kiku says to his boss.

"Nor have I," Lien responds. She is taking a great risk telling Yao this false information. She is lying. Kasem will have to, as well. She only hopes he does not forget the promise he made to Leon about Emil. Neither of them is supposed to know about Leon's outings with Emil. Initially she thought they were just friends, and for the first time, she was happy for her distant cousin. Having been adopted straight into stardom, Leon never had time to mingle with people his age. Seeing him so enthusiastic about Emil made her to want to help him if only to see him smile.

Yao, however, will not have any of that. In comparison to time and money, the casual friend is anything but worth that kind of expended energy. Emil is no doctor, no lawyer, no powerful businessman, no celebrity, not anyone at that. He is no one.

But not to Leon. Lien wishes to keep it that way.

"If it's true, then Leon's watch should have stopped, right?" Kiku brings up. "If I recall, Leon is the only one in your close family that has one."

A faint smile almost passes across Lien's lips as she faintly recalls Mei being excited about Leon's watch. She wanted to dote on her new cousin-in-law and dress Leon's soul mate with pretty clothes and silks. Now, Lien can only imagine the look of disappointment the peppy fashion designer will wear when—or if—she finds out Leon's soul mate happens to be a boy.

"Then I will ask him for it," Yao says with a gruff expression. "As for you, Kiku, I want you to pull up the records from the watchmaker. He should have the pairings for who will match up with who. They always come up once a match has been made."

The agent's eyebrows fall flat. "Sir, I'm going to have to go down to the watchmaker to do that. These records aren't made public to anyone."

"Then go there, or so help me, I will do it myself."

Lien speaks up. "Yao, don't forget about your blood pressure. It's out of the way, and you have business affairs and a movie to produce. And Kiku, if this is true, then you're going to have to pull a lot of strings. I will go to the watchmaker."

The men watch their secretary, stricken at her sudden proposal.

"You'll go, Lien?" Kiku responds.

"This should be something taken care of within the family. Cheng is busy, too, and Kasem might forget. I can pay the watchmaker a visit tomorrow and sort this out."

After some thought, Yao nods. "Alright. You'll go then, Lien. I want full details and copies of the records on Leon and his…soul mate or whatever it is the other person is."

Kiku blinks and brings up another matter. "And what about Bondevik?"

Their boss clicks his tongue. "Yes, him. Well, he already seems to know about this, and he said he wants Leon to stay away from his brother. If that's so, then he shouldn't be a problem."

Kiku and Lien stare.

"That is what I want, too."

* * *

"You have no idea how tight it was, Lukas, ol' buddy!" Mathias laughs, relieved that he can stretch his legs and shoulders again. He has noticeably broader shoulders than Lukas or any man Lukas has ever known; they certainly help with the hard labor in his bakery.

"You sure you weren't scared when you were in there?"

"What, me? No way, Lukas!"

"I thought I heard some heavy breathing in there."

"That's because it was cramped and tight!"

"Ha," Lukas dryly laughs. "If only I could say the same about your mouth."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind." He changes the subject. "So Ice hasn't contacted you?"

"Nope."

Lukas' breath comes out in heated fumes. He does not assume contacting Emil, himself, will do any good so as long as Leon is with him. All the same, he wonders if he is being too rash. Going all the way to Volt to demand things straight from Yao Wang may have been too hasty. He should have thought on it. Perhaps…just maybe…

"Lukas, are ya hungry?" Mathias suddenly butts in.

"Starving," he frowns, realizing he did not even have anything to eat since this morning's toast and cold ham.

"Well, I've got something special waiting for you at home! Ice already tried one, an' he said it was good. You'll like them. I know it!"

"Sure," he breathes, though he does not doubt Mathias' claims. However much he hates to admit it, Mathias knows quite a lot about his tastes and preferences.

The two make their way home on the Bolt Rails and walk the rest of the way back. All the while, Lukas tells Mathias what little he experienced during his visit to Volt.

"So you're saying that ol' Yao didn't even know his boy's soul mate is Ice?"

"I guess not. Leon must've been hiding it from him. I can imagine why, but I didn't think he would keep something that important from his own father."

"Yao's not really Leon's father, though. You know that, right?"

Lukas' eyebrows crease. "In these coming weeks, I've been prone to knowing more about Leon Wang than I cared to have known." He spits out the teenage celebrity's name like a bitter poison.

"Ah, don't worry about it, Lukas," Mathias tries to reassure him. "Everything will sort itself out eventually. It did with us, right?"

Lukas snorts. "In what way?"

Mathias smiles largely. "You used to not want to be my friend, and now we're the best of friends."

The quieter one of the friend's eyes wander towards the direction of his house. "I've been wondering about that."

"Eh?"

"Nothing," he quickly responds. "Just thinking about something else."

When they arrive back at home, Mathias is eager to invite himself inside however much Lukas refuses. He spits at him like an angry cat and tells his friend that he has caused him enough trouble today. But Mathias is not having any of it, and just like Lien, he is stronger than Lukas and easily lets himself inside, making his way to the kitchen.

"Noisy oaf," Lukas sneers at his friend as he takes off his shoes.

"Who?"

"Who else but the only other person in this house?"

"No."

"No what?" He grows impatient with him.

"I'm not the only one here. Listen."

Lukas closes his lips together and listens. With their house hushed in whisper, his ears grow accustomed to the silence of the place, but there is no genuine silence here. Somewhere upstairs, he can hear a soft scrubbing noise and running water.

He silently mouths "What?" as he goes upstairs, treading carefully as if he is about to apprehend a burglar. Then, when he reaches the hall, he sees that the bathroom light is lit and the door opened. Mathias follows behind him when he makes his way to the bathroom and veers around the doorway to see a familiar, common sight.

"Oh, you guys are back," Emil says as he continues to brush his teeth with great care and an odd determination.


	14. XIV

In his entire nineteen (and soon to be twenty) years of his life, Emil was never grounded before—that was, until Lukas made it so. He was not lenient about it in the slightest. He confiscated his younger brother's phone (but not before Emil strictly locked it), poked his head inside his room every ten minutes, and even went as far as setting his bed against Emil's door in order to listen in on any suspicious activities.

Mathias, of course, protested against this, saying Emil is an adult and that he should be able to get the freedom of making his own decisions. Lukas was not (and still is not) having any of it. His reasons stand firm that Emil is his only living relative; however much the Køhlers have been a family to Lukas and Emil, they are not legitimate.

In the time between the present and since he returned from his trip to Neon, Emil learned that Lukas went on a little trip of his own, going as far as marching straight into Volt and gaining access to the top of Wang Studio, somewhere Leon briefly mentioned is only reserved for close-knit employees and inner family members. Not even big-shot company men are supposedly allowed, yet all the same, Lukas had managed to get in. If Emil had his phone, he would have asked hot it was possible. Additionally, much to Mathias' embarrassment and fruitless shouting, Lukas described in great detail of the events after being banned from Wang Studio involving Mathias getting stuck in a city drain pipe leading out of Volt. Luckily for the both of them, it happened to be a pipe for rainwater drainage and not something meant for dirtier contents.

In exchange, Emil told Lukas and Mathias that Leon had to be called back for a movie shooting; to cover up why he did not tell Mathias about it, he said he was worried Mathias might follow him and make a scene. The music playing at the zoo, he claimed, was so loud that he failed to hear his phone ringing. When Lukas asked why he could not trace his brother's location, Emil shrugged and supposed perhaps the signals that day were haywire due to all the transfers, hacking, and other various malware floating around. Lukas scarcely believed it. He had a strong feeling the pictures he was sent during those time intervals were still fake. He grounded Emil all the same.

* * *

On what can considered a normal early summer morning, Emil hears a soft tapping noise on his door. He knows it is Lukas telling him to come out of his room to eat breakfast, but after the many days he has been cooped up inside, the sensation of getting hungry and living by a fixed schedule has left him. He lost track of the date and time long ago. His sleep cycle is somewhere between teetering in a limbo of night owl and morning bird. When he rolls out of his bed, he does not even have a clock on his wall to tell him the time. He thinks he relies on his phone too much. Without it, there are few activities he can do, and one of such time-passers involves playing with his stuffed animals like a toddler.

As he opens the door, he sees that not only is Lukas there but Mathias as well. Both are wearing smiles more or less, and the said person with a confused expression finds himself greeted to balloons, cake, and a colorful box. A loud honk shatters his eardrums and knocks Emil backwards. He shouts a profanity at Mathias right before his brother elbows his other in the gut.

"Idiot," he grunts with a wrinkled nose and looks over at his brother. "Ice, where do you want to go today? Mathias is paying."

"Buh—What? I thought we were going to split the bill!" Mathias cries as if hurt by his soul mate's words. In his hand is a traditional party blow horn, the most plausible source of the honking sound.

Firstly, Emil wrinkles his forehead and rubs his ears. His hair is a mess, and he has not looked at himself in the mirror recently; the most he does is glance down in front of the sink when he washes up and brushes his teeth.

"Can someone tell me what in Eliatha is going on?" he asks the two men standing in his doorway.

"Happy birthday, Ice!" Mathias grins even wider than usual.

"What?"

"You turn twenty today," Lukas elaborates. "Did you forget that?"

"I…Y-Yeah! You took my phone away, so I don't even know what  _time_ it is!"

"Ah. Sorry about that Ice," Mathias apologizes.

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing, Mathias!" Emil throws dagger-like stares at his brother. "And what's this about taking me out? We never go out on my birthday  _or_  yours!"

"Mathias is paying," Lukas repeats.

Emil's eyes fall and look at the two men eagerly awaiting their destination. Lukas' eyes occasionally waver towards Mathias and back to his brother while Mathias is grinning like a jubilant dog without a care in the world. Today is his best friend's brother's birthday, after all. Emil is two decades old today.

"Fine," Emil heavily sighs and fingers his curled silver hair. "We can…How about…? No, that's not a good place. Lapis. Let's go to Lapis."

He catches his brother's eyes lighting up with an unidentifiable glimmer at the sound of that name. Lapis is a place in Retro where their family ate during their visit. Both remember the atmosphere being clean and family friendly. The food was not bad, either.

"Lapis it is, then," Lukas nods and brushes his hand against Mathias' arm as another way of telling him, "Don't forget: you're still paying."

Emil then goes to the bathroom and checks himself in the mirror. His hair and face alike are a complete mess. There are dark rings starting to form around his eyes where there use to be creamy flawless skin. His already tousled hair is curled inwards and out with sprigs and loose ends tangling together like a messy hairball. Cursing Lukas' and Mathias' ill timing, he sets to work on taming his hair as best he can.

He comes out of the bathroom nearly an hour later. By then, the typical lunch hour is close to over. Lukas suspects there will not be any crowds in the restaurant, so he is not one to complain. Mathias, on the other hand, continues to whine and moan about how he will have to deal with the bill.

"Why are you so worked up about it?" Lukas throws at him. "It's not like you did anything for my birthday. Think of this as a way to treat the both of us."

"I didn't do anything for your birthday because you didn't  _want_  me to!" Mathias reminds him when Emil comes down to the living area.

"Ah. Ice." Lukas notices him first and eagerly stands up. "Are you ready to go?"

"I think so," he questionably answers as he fingers his hair. "Is this alright?"

"Here." His brother reaches out and straightens out some of his silvery locks. Even when combed the best he can, a great deal of strands still curl inwards. "You're always a mess, Ice."

"Shut it," Emil grumbles and shakes his brother off. He starts to walk out when Mathias slaps him in the back.

"Wow, Ice," he chuckles, not knowing Emil is coughing up a storm from his unknown strength, "you're really two decades old now, huh?"

"Don't… _uh-hugh…!_ " he coughs. "Don't say it like that, Mathias. It makes me feel as old as you two."

"If only," Lukas spaciously laughs. "But no matter how much time passes, the difference between our ages will never close."

"Right. As if I needed to be reminded of that. Did you remember to bring your phone because—oh, I don't know—you  _took mine away?_ "

"Relax. Since it's your birthday, Ice, you get your phone back just for today. Just no calling that Leon boy." His brother pulls out his personal phone and dangles it in front of him like a trainer holding out a mocking treat to a dog. Emil wrinkles his nose and quickly grabs it before Lukas can pull it out of his reach. As much as he wants to check his phone for any messages he might have missed, he does not feel comfortable doing anything in front of Lukas and Mathias.

"Thanks," is all he tells him as the trio heads towards the Bolt Rail. After enjoying the luxury of being in the spacious and clean Lightning Rail, he wonders if he can put up with the crowded, gum-chewed floors for one day. Heck, if Leon can deal with his brother's icy hospitality, this should be nothing.

* * *

Since working on the case between Leon and Emil, people connected to Wang Studio have been noticing one too many graying hairs planted atop Yao Wang's forehead, sprouting out like angry weeds and revealing his descent into senior age.

There have still not been any signs that Leon's soul mate is truly Emil. There are no records of it in the watchmaker's books or databases. They could not even find Leon's watch. For the sake of privacy and a little bit of pride, Yao told his inner family members and family agent to stay away from Lukas and Emil until they can confirm things on their end. The last thing they need is to draw any unwanted attention to themselves while in the middle of shooting a movie.

Speaking of the movie, Leon just finished shooting a scene with Yong Soo that involved explosions and gun fights. There were not nearly enough fist scenes as Leon would have liked, but with their limited props and staged fights, they have to make do with what they can. Unlike Leon who has been training as a martial arts star all his life, Yong Soo was brought up to be a rising singer and pop star. Both fall in the same category of celebrities, though they lean towards different strengths and interests—it is made crystal clear during the shooting.

"I don't care if he wants to use the green screens! Tell him we don't need them! You know how much editing that takes? Plus, with the reshooting and the changing scenes, the camera angles don't look right! Do it over, or just cut it out altogether!"

"Leon, please calm down." As his family, bodyguard, and stunt director, Kasem often ends up trailing behind the impatient, short-fused teenager around the studio, listening and responding to complaint and criticism alike. Despite being skilled actors, Leon's and Yong Soo's styles have subtle, yet conflicting differences that make it feel impossible for them to work together. Leon is swift, raw, and powerful. Yong Soo is flashy, corner-cutting, and drawn out. When Leon wants to shoot scene after scene, Yong Soo thinks of ways to make a scene better and longer—more importantly, getting the camera to focus on him. It remains a wonder as to how their directors can work with them. Their agents are already pulling hairs as it is.

"I need a break," Leon snaps as he disappears into the changing area. "I'm not doing this, Kasem. Tell that idiot Altorienese agent that I'm calling it quits today."

His cousin blinks. "Leon, are you feeling okay? You seem more…" His voice trails off.

Leon clicks his tongue. "Just say it, Kasem. I'm right here."

"Stressed."

"Stressed," the actor repeats. He almost laughs. "Yeah, you can say that. I'm stressed because my old man's on my back thanks to a certain brother of a certain  _friend_. And I'm stressed because I'm stuck doing this movie with this idiot who doesn't even know the difference between a professional roundhouse kick and a side-jump kick. Plus I'm hungry."

"Ah. Maybe that's it. Should I go get you something to eat?" Kasem offers.

"No." He thinks on it. "I'll go myself."

"But, Leon—"

"Tell them I'm out," he calls back as he takes off, flying past his cousin and running out of the set before anyone can chase him down.

"Ah—! Leon, wait!" Kasem frantically shouts and dashes after him, but after some time, he loses sight of the rebellious teenager and gets lost, himself. He never happened to be someone with a good sense of direction—that or he often forgot which set was which. Not only that, but he left his phone back at the set.

"Oh, they're going to chew me out for this one," he sighs and tries to find his way back before someone finds out he is missing, too.

Back on the other side of the studio yard, Leon already slipped through security and ducked into the nearest station. Luckily for him, the movie sets are all constructed close to a private station to make transportation and shipping easier. It is here where he places on his "borrowed" sunglasses of Yong Soo's that he has yet to return and goes inside the first cart that pulls up to his station.

On the cart, he scrolls through his phone for any notable contacts. Most of the names listed are cracked contacts from agents and contract makers who happened upon his phone number. He deletes all of these without a second thought. Once his message list is cleared, he looks at his other phone. There are no contacts from Cheng. There are still no contacts from Emil. Sighing, he pockets his phone and folds his hands. Ever since Emil returned to Circuit, he never heard back from again. He suspects either his phone number changed or he was grounded. He chuckles at the thought of someone who is twenty years old today being grounded. The thought is humorous. Emil, by technicality, is an adult now. Fancy thinking he is older than him. He does not act like it.

These thoughts entertain him all the way to the main station where he hops aboard the Lightning Rail. He wants to get away for a while. Emil or not, today feels like a good day to blow off some steam at Retro, the festive district. It does not take long for the rail to arrive at Retro where, under the summer's afternoon sun, the streets appear white and plain. The neon lights of the midways will not appear until far after sundown.

With his sunglasses on, he easily walks through the streets in his button-down shirt and exposed face like an invisible entity gliding through concrete and wires. A few Cubes float past him, advertising drinks and refreshments to combat the summer heat. He purchases a carbonated fruit drink from a stand without anyone taking a second glance at him and smiles at the young lady attending his services.

He goes to the midway first. There are a handful of civilians here with families since the day is still young. It is the perfect time for a family outing, now that he thinks about it: a summer weekend with the weather being nothing short of perfect. A tingling feeling stirs in his gut when he sees a young boy playing with his parents. They are playing a ball game where they must knock down a pile of boxes to win a prize. The game is rigged with the boxes being loaded with weights and the sack of pebbles too light to build up proper momentum. However, the unfairness of the game melts away in the background against how much they look like they are having fun. The boy is smiling. His parents hold each other with their hands. Perhaps somewhere along the way, they had watches that stopped at the same time.

Thinking of that, his hand reflexively digs into his pocket expecting a cold piece of metal to be inside. However, as he searches hopelessly for his watch, he remembers that he gave it to Cheng.

"Ah, Cheng, you sly dog," he cannot help smiling.

His cousin told him what had happened. Upon hearing that Emil was at Neon with him, he paid a visit to Holo's watchmaker. There, he had gotten rid of any evidence that his and Emil's relationship was ever legitimate. To everyone else but themselves, they are not supposed to exist as soul mates. Leon is fine with that for now.

Until things can be sorted out the way Leon wants them to go, his watch is under Cheng's care. Even he does not know where his watch is, only that it is somewhere no one will find it.

Since his pocket is empty, Leon takes his hand out and continues to make his way down the midway to the food vendors lining the streets. Past here are the restaurants, but today, he thinks it is better to pick up from his hunger without making too much of a scene. He will rather not take off his sunglasses if he can.

As he continues to make his way past the gaming booths, he thinks he hears a faint yet familiar voice shrieking from the far end where stuffed animals are used for prizes.

He rubs his chin as he tries to recall where that voice came from. The sound is a close match-up to Yong Soo's: energetic and obnoxious in nature. But it cannot be Yong Soo. He left him back at the set. He clicks his tongue. Something tells him to go investigate and see who is complaining about the games being too hard. Leon knows the games are unfair here. What difference does it make that someone else cannot see that?

But, as he seeks out the source of the voice, his heart stops when he sees a flash of silvery white hair standing out above the rest of the pedestrians and families here. Truth be told, the "family" Leon spots is shaky and broken at best, but it is one he recognizes. All three faces stand out immediately: Emil with his doubtful expression and pale complexion, Lukas with his stone-cold eyes and even colder personality, and Mathias, the energetic loud-mouth with what Leon suspects is brain that is not quite in the right place as his heart is.

"Must be here to celebrate Ice's birthday," he mouths to himself as he watches from a distance. So as long as no one bumps into him or looks closely at him, no one will recognize him from his position. Suddenly his stomach is no longer hungry, and he thinks watching the odd trio carry out the rest of the day is a treat in of itself.

"Why are you even thinking of wasting your money on a stupid game like this?" Lukas hisses at his significant other. His nails are digging into his crossed arms like an angry cat ready to lash out. Emil makes no attempts to stop the little argument ensuing between his brother and his friend, though the look on his face reads trouble and hot embarrassment.

"It's a cute rabbit, Lukas!" Mathias points out. His finger directs at an overly fluffy white rabbit with a large blue ribbon tied at the front of its neck. Its jet-black beaded eyes are almost lost in the synthetic fur sewed around its head and protruding in irresistible tufts at its cheeks and ears.

At last, after hearing Mathias go on about the rabbit for a length, Lukas capitulates. "If you want the rabbit, fine. Just don't go wasting the money you're going to be using for our lunch."

"You guys…" Emil growls. "I'm hungry."

Lukas gives his brother a quick look of acknowledgment. "Just a little longer, Ice. I just need to prove that Mathias is wasting his time and money."

Emil lets out a sigh and observes as Mathias pays the vendor for a handful of darts. The goal of the game is simple: aim for the center of the star on the screen, and he will win a prize. The concept sounds innocently easy enough, but to someone who knows the programming of the game, Leon knows that the darts are rigged with tiny magnets that propel away from the stars. Only by chance will the magnetic field on the screen shut off to give the players a higher chance of landing a dart on a star; however, even those chances are remarkably slim.

Mathias ends up missing all five purchased darts. Growling and throwing what can only be called an embarrassing display of a grown man stamping his feet, he buys another round of darts. Both Lukas and Emil roll their eyes and watch. They do not even bother discouraging or encouraging their friend; it is as if they gave up on him before he even started.

Leon chuckles at the display. How fascinating it is to see someone so determined to grab what is probably not there. The stuffed rabbit is not worth much. Should he go to a toy store, he can buy the same rabbit for a better price than what Mathias might end up paying for darts. At least with an in-store purchase, the buyer is guaranteed to receive a stuffed rabbit.

And why a rabbit, Leon wonders? As he recalls, Emil has a fondness for puffins. There are puffin toys found somewhere in this midway. Can it be that the rabbit is not for Emil, he assumes?

He becomes lost in thought for just enough time that he fails to see the last dart fly straight into the center of the star. A corny electronic jingle plays as the prizes display themselves out to the triumphant dart thrower. Mathias looks like a proud rooster with his upright hair and strutting, puffed-out chest. Lukas looks like a cynical dead fish.

"What'd I tell ya?" he grins. "I told you I'd get one, didn't I?"

"Hurry up and get the damn rabbit," Lukas spits.

"What color do you want?" Mathias stupidly asks.

"Any one! Just hurry up and grab one, you idiot! Ice is hungry!"

"Alright, alright!" Mathias hurriedly plucks a white rabbit toy from the rack and runs to catch up with the brothers. Leon trails behind at a safe distance, his sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

The restaurant they wind up going to is Lapis. It is not as high end as Teal is; Leon suspects they are hear for a family friendly atmosphere, something he faintly recalls this place is known for. True to that speculation, there are full families with children running around and coloring booklets and making little sandwiches and pizzas. Unlike Teal where the aquarium was full of holograms and advanced nanotechnology, Lapis has exotic automated animals ranging from idle peacocks to placid sloths. Anyone is free to touch the animals, and Leon sees that mostly children pet these creatures. He believes that if the toucans here were real, they would snap the children's grubby hands clean off. They have quite powerful beaks as he remembers from nature documentaries.

When Emil and his chaperones sit down, Leon asks for a table close by, just enough so he can watch them from a distance. The waiter never asks for him to remove his sunglasses, and that works out just fine for this scenario. Here, he can ever hear the bashful birthday boy speaking with his brother and friend.

"It's been a while since we've visited," Lukas comments. "Last time was with Mother and Father."

Emil mumbles a soft "Yeah."

Mathias is unfazed by any of this. "Come on, Ice, yer twenty now. Order whatever ya want. This is an important year, after all. It's not every day you become two decades old."

The twenty year-old makes a face. "Saying it like that makes me feel old."

His brother plants a hand on his head and ruffles his already messy hair. Even from here, Leon notices that he does not appear as prim as he normally is.

It's alright, Ice. No matter what, you're still a child in our eyes."

"I don't want to be call that, either!" Emil quietly snaps. To hide his flustered expression, he hides his nose in his menu.

"Oh, yeah, Ice, if ya want, we can get you some alcohol now," Mathis brings up*. "What'dya say to that? If you don't finish, you can always give the rest to me— _haaack!_ Give…! I give, Lukas!"

"He can't handle the stuff," Lukas huffs as he releases his soul mate's collar.

Emil thinks otherwise. "No, I can handle it."

Leon can swear Lukas is hiding a chuckle.

"Ice, you're too weak to be drinking alcohol. It's going to make you dizzy. And what are we going to do if Mathias ends up drunk?"

"Hey, it takes more than a few drinks to get me drunk," Mathias butts in.

"Sure," Lukas haughtily bites.

It is then that Emil closes his menu. "You know what? I think I will try it. I'm twenty years old. I'm an adult. I have the right to drink, and I will." He places his menu onto the table and starts to input the codes for his order. In addition to steamed mackerel and potatoes, he adds a small bottle of whiskey on his plate. He chooses not to get beer to see how well he can really handle the stuff. If it proves to be too strong for him, he can simply pass the bottle over to Mathias. With that, Lukas and Mathias also complete their orders, and in time, their food arrives at their table. Leon's table also has a fanciful selection of the most expensive dishes to see how the common civilians eat out.

Through the rest of their lunch, Leon never sees Emil touch his glass once. He thinks maybe Emil plans on filling his stomach before adding alcohol to avoid a strong intoxication. Alcohol is still alcohol, however. He can laugh just thinking about innocent little Emil getting drunk after his first taste.

Finally, after half the whiskey is gone, and their plates are cleared, Emil decides to try alcohol for what Leon believes is his very first time.

"It's your head begins to hurt, let me know," Lukas says. "I always keep some medication for Mathias just in case, but it can work on someone like you, too."

"Thanks, Lukas," Emil frowns and spins his shot glass on its edge. The golden brown liquid swirls around with ice cubes rotating in cramped circles. His drink should not sit out for too long. It will make the flavor taste different should the ice melt.

Mathias is leaning over the table with his elbows resting on the surface. He looks eager to see how his friend's brother's first drink will go.

"We're right behind ya, Ice," he smiles.

"Shut up," Emil grumbles and brings the glass to his lips. He lets the alcohol touch his lips, and then he pulls back.

Lukas raises his eyebrows. "Too strong?"

His brother shakes his head. "No. Just wanted to try it first." He licks his upper lip and furrows his eyebrows. The taste is faint and the alcohol not as strong. He will have to take a real drink if he aims on knowing what the experience is really like.

"Screw this," he breathes and takes the glass up to his lips again. "Bottoms up."

Lukas and Mathias silently watch as he drinks the entire thing. The reaction is close to what Leon expected. Immediately after swallowing, Emil reels his head back and slams his glass onto the table. He violently coughs and clutches his nose and throat as if trying to get the fiery bitter taste out of his senses. He makes a choking sound once and a short moan thereafter.

Lukas rubs his brother's back and offers him some bread and water. Mathias nervously chuckles, asking if this means he can have the rest.

"Oh my gods," Emil coughs. When he looks up, his eyes are watering. His face is completely pink and his lips are scrunched together like he just swallowed a lemon whole.

"It's strong stuff, 'ey, Ice?" Mathias laughs.

"No…shit…!" he sputters.

Lukas continues to rub his back. "Watch yourself, Ice. This is a family friendly place."

"Sorry," he strains. Right after that, he clutches his forehead and squeezes his eyes shut. There is either sweat or tears rolling down his cheeks. Perhaps it is both.

"So…" Mathias' eyes move to the bottle. "I can drink the rest?"

Lukas throws a dark look at him, but his soul mate is completely fixated on the whiskey.

Emil waves his hand at the demonic bottle. "Go ahead," he groans. "Oh, gods. I can't do that again. Oh gods. Oh gods…!" He doubles up and holds his breath. Leon can see his lips quivering. His poor fragile soul mate's reactions are riding on a borderline of amusing and pitiful to watch. It looks like Emil is going to be sick just after one drink.

"I need to go to bathroom," Emil announces and gets up from his seat. "And don't you dare follow me." He further instills he command by jabbing a finger at his brother as he disappears to the back.

"That's my cue," Leon smirks and gets up. He takes a long route away from Lukas' dead fish eyes and slips inside right after he looks away.

Inside, Emil has already disappeared into one of the sealed stalls. As a small gesture of respect, he waits until Emil finishes with his business before announcing his presence.

There is no vomiting or drunken fits involved like some of the crew members Leon has worked with. However, what Emil is going through cannot be considered too lightly as he sounds as though he is in pain. Some groaning and nose blowing later, the toilet flushes behind the stall, and Emil exits the bathroom looking like a bigger mess than before.

He bumps into Leon without taking much notice to him. His eyes are glued to the sink ahead, and he offers a short apology before washing his hands and mouth with water. When he checks himself in the mirror, he notices a figure with suspicious sunglasses watching him from behind. Raising an eyebrow, he turns back and drops his mouth open.

"Oh gods, no," he groans, whatever headache he had feeling bigger than before.

"Hey, Ice," Leon smirks. "Looks like one drink's all you can handle."

Emil does not appear to be in the mood to talk. "What are you doing here, Leon? If my brother finds out you're here, we're both going to be dead. And what—? How did you find me?"

The teenager shrugs. "Internet?"

"Very funny. I didn't even have my phone on me until today."

Leon puts two and two together. "Oh, so you were grounded. Never heard of a nineteen year-old getting grounded. Guess there's a first for everything."

Emil's voice grows low and impatient. "Look, Leon, whatever it is you wanted to say to me today, I don't want to hear it." He curses and rubs his forehead. "I'm not in the mood. I had to deal with a lot of crap after that last thing. Lukas saw right through you, you know. He even went to your dad's place—"

"I know. Cheng laid everything on me." He adjusts his sunglasses and changes the topic. "You know, I jumped shooting so I could see you."

"That's nice, but you did that on you on your own. I didn't have anything to do with your decision."

"But it's your birthday today, right?"

Emil swallows. "Yeah? So?"

Leon rubs his neck. "Well, first of all, happy birthday, Ice."

"Thanks, I guess." Emil suppresses what looks like a burp. "What's the second thing?"

"I wanted to get you a present, but you never responded to my messages."

"You don't have to get me anything, Leon. Really." He looks up and down his friend. "The fact that you showed up is a big enough surprise already. Really, though. How the heck did you find me?"

"Coincidence. I jumped shooting because I wanted to get some time out, and I happened to see you guys at the midway."

Emil groans and curses. "I feel sick."

"You should probably get back to your brother then," Leon recommends. "I heard him say he had something that might help combat the alcohol."

"Yeah, but I don't know if Mathias will be needing it more than me. Lukas doesn't drink and—Wait. Why am I even talking to you? Go away, Leon! I'll never see the light of day until school starts if Lukas sees you hanging around here! Shoo!" He flings his hands out and flaps them forward like he is shooing a bird or rodent away from his sight.

Leon does not enjoy this gesture. He knows Emil is not acting himself, and he knows there had to be some tension the next time he saw his friend; however, he did not think to see Emil rejection to be so outright. If anything, he feels offended.

"That's no way to treat your friend," he huffs. "I'm blowing, like, at least a million heta by seeing you."

"Then manage your money better! Don't drag me into your life again, Leon! Listen, it's nice that you're visit me, and I bet some girls would kill to be where I am but…but…" He stops. His head is burning and pounding. The blood in his brain shoots to his ears and hammers away like a jackhammer. The dim blue light in the bathroom starts to annoy him. Why is everything so bright? Where is that damn ringing noise coming from?

"Whoa, Ice?" Emil hears. "Ice…! Hang on!" He then feels something grabbing his shoulders and running against his forehead. Somewhere in this mess, he actually falls to his knees and collapses. In the distance, he hears voices swimming. The whole experience passes by like walking through a thick fog of cloudy images. Somewhere in the mix of things, dark smog conceals his vision and blocks out the rest of the world.

Everything fades to black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for delaying the updates! I forget I have an account here sometimes. 
> 
> *I decided that in Eliatha, the legal drinking age would be 20 years of age.


	15. XV

Hangovers are unforgiving. Emil experiences no less. His head pounds with every pulse of blood that reaches his brain. Thankfully, there is little to no light wherever he is laying. Something heavy rests on right hand. When he cranes his head over to see what the weight is, it is not an object; rather, it is a person. A familiar head of dark brown hair moves and rolls when Emil tries to pull his hand away. The head moves up, and a pair of golden eyes open. Leon wakes up next to Emil with a tired smile.

"Hey," he softly chuckles. "You're finally up."

Emil gives his surroundings a quick look to see if he was abducted again. He does not recognize the wallpaper. There are images moving on the flat surfaces. There are paintings of bubbles tacked on the walls. A blue light floods the dim room. He is not in a place he recognizes.

"Where am I?" is the first thing he asks.

Leon appears to understand his confusion right away. "Okay, for starters, I didn't abduct you. Mathias and I brought you here because your brother was afraid you wouldn't be able to make it back home, so I paid for a nearby hotel room and took you here. Don't worry. Lukas and Mathias are in the other room. I'm serious."

Emil frowns. "Other room?" he echoes. "Which district are we in?"

"Still in Retro," Leon answers. He shifts topics. "So how's your head?"

"Bad," he answers right away. "I feel like I got hit by a freaking train."

His friend smiles. "Yeah, your brother couldn't give you any medicine. Which reminds me: you need to go talk to Lukas now that you're awake. He told me to tell you once you woke up.

Emil cannot help chuckling. "Frankly I'm surprised you're the one watching me and not the other way around. I didn't think he'd let you stick around with me after I got grounded." He lifts himself off the bed and sits up. There is a passing phase where his head feels lights, but it passes when he stabilizes himself—with Leon's help.

"Easy, Ice." Being the obvious stronger of the two, he allows his friend to support himself on his shoulder. "I don't want to get on Lukas' bad side again."

"I don't understand." Emil tastes something bitter and strong in his mouth. He has no idea of how long he was knocked out, though the alcohol is still working its way inside his system. He does not believe he will ever take another drink again.

"Don't understand what?"

"Why would my brother just let you take me here? You're the reason I got grounded."

"Mm…" Leon's eyes wander around the room. "It's your birthday for one thing, and maybe it has something to do with paying for your meal, getting them a fancy room, and not kidnapping you?" He pauses. "Did you ever tell your brother you're a model, by the way?"

"Oh, crap," Emil groans. For a brief moment, he forgot about his loose, unofficial job with Leon's photographer. "No, but don't bring it up to him. He's going to freak out—especially the part about the 'kidnapping' at school. That won't go down well."

"I would know."

By now, Emil can stand on his own two feet. He wobbles occasionally and stutters around as though his head is made of solid lead. Most of his physical abilities are restored, though his pride is not. He finds it hard to believe he passed out after only one drink. Mathias, he thinks, must have a liver of steel.

"You okay?" Leon asks.

"I'm fine, thank you." Emil brushes him off and straightens his posture. He checks himself to make sure he looks presentable and well coordinated. Then, he opens the door; it immediately swings back and catches him by surprise. His brother is standing right in front of him, and while his expression remains generally stoic, Emil can tell he was listening in on their conversation.

"OO-h, uh…Brother…" Emil stammers and flushes light pink. He hopes Lukas did not hear the part about being a model.

"Ice, are you feeling alright?" is the only thing Lukas asks to Emil's relief.

"I, uh, I'm fine."

His brother's eyes narrow and stare hard at Leon. "So he didn't do anything to you."

"What? No! Give him some credit!" He stops and holds his hand to his head. Raising his voice has apparently given rise to a nasty headache. Lukas places his hand on his brother's shoulder and examines him.

"After being around someone who binges, I find it a little hard to believe you passed out after only one drink." He hands him a small white pill. "Here. It will help with the headaches."

"Thanks…I guess." Emil takes the pill and swallows it. With the drugs of the Tekniq Era being fast reacting, the properties of the pill quickly take effect. Pretty soon, his headache vanishes, and his vision clears. So this must be how Mathias can cope so easily, he thinks. Just a pop of a pill, and it is like the alcohol was never there—it is unfortunate he cannot say the same about clearing his head. Thinking about Mathias, he wonders where he even is.

"Where'd Mathias go?" he asks.

Lukas' lips press together as he looks behind him. "Try to see if you can find him," he sighs. He pats his brother's shoulder and looks over at Leon with an "I am watching you" type of stare.

"I'm glad everything worked out," Leon says. "I guess my work here is done."

Emil incredulously frowns. "That's it? You're not going to stay?"

Leon gives his scowling brother a rough rundown. "I think I'm intruding. I don't want to get in the way of your family night any longer. The suite's yours. Think of it as a little apology for all the trouble I've caused."

There is something formal about Leon's tone that makes Emil's stomach churn. As twisted as it is, he prefers the rugged, slightly annoying version of his friend.

"Yes, yes. Very good," Lukas spaciously speaks. "You've had your fun stalking us, now be on your way and do whatever it is celebrities like you do."

"Lukas…" Emil softly growls. This entire exchange feels forced. There is no reason for Leon to give them a room. Back at Lapis, he could have easily brought his brother's attention to him and waited somewhere outside until he regained consciousness. The suite is not necessary, however fancy it looks. If he knows anything about Leon, there is something else he wants.

A suite in Retro and Lukas' (shaky) trust. Something in Emil's head starts to click. He thinks he knows what Leon is trying to pull here however loose his assumption is. Leon wants to finish their first da—

"No. Outing," he softly corrects himself aloud.

His brother hears him. "What was that, Ice?"

"I-I…" Emil's eyes fall on Leon. "Back around when Leon and I first met, we went to Retro together."

"Ah. Yes." Upon mentioning Leon, Lukas' cold eyes fall on the celebrity.

"He wanted to show me around the entire district," Emil tells him. "We never got to do that because, well, it was a school night." He looks up at his brother. "Lukas, please, it's my birthday. It's just going to be around the area—wherever this area is."

His brother gives it some deep thought—and by deep thought, it is actually seven seconds of his precious time.

"If we go—"

"Oh, come on!" Emil cannot believe his brother. Twenty years old and he is still getting treated like he is half his physical age. "It's my freaking birthday!"

"No, it's fine," Leon says.

Emil whips around. "What?"

"If Lukas wants to tag along, he can tag along."

"Huh? Y-You're sure?"

"I don't mind."

Suddenly, a loud, absent voice bursts into the room. "Lukas! You've gotta see the bar! It's so amazing! They've even got this wine from four forty! Come on!" He notices the two other faces in the room. "Oh, hey, boys!" Emil frowns at being addressed as a boy. "Ice, are ya doin' alright?"

Lukas grinds his teeth together. "Could you have ever dropped in on a different time?"

"No, this is perfect," Leon grins. Emil does not like that look. "With Mathias and Lukas tagging along with us around Retro, it can be, like, a double date."

"Leon…!" Emil cries until Mathias interrupts.

"Ooh, that'd be awesome! Lukas, Leon's loaded! He'll pay for everything!"

"You…" Emil plants his face into his palm. He can only imagine what his brother will say to all of this.

"A double date…" Lukas repeats. "That works fine with me."

"You can't be serious. Leon, why?"

"Because it's your birthday, Ice," he smiles. "You never told me what present you wanted, so think of this as an unofficial gift."

"I couldn't tell you what I really wanted because my brother took my phone away! This is the worst gift ever!"

"But something's better than nothing, isn't it? Knowing you, you wouldn't even ask me to get you anything."

Emil feels his face grow hot; he is not sure if this is out of embarrassment or frustration that his friend is spot on. "Wh-Whatever," he finally says. "Lukas and Mathias can tag along— _but_ ,they have to stay five meters away from us. Lukas, I don't want you breathing down our necks. Five meters is enough distance to see what we're doing. You won't lose us."

Lukas takes another seven seconds of his precious time to think on it. "Very well. That works with us. But in case you run away, I'm taking your phone, Leon."

"Brother, you've got to be kidding…"

Nevertheless, Leon hands Lukas his business phone, completely shut off and locked. His lack of putting up a resistance slightly irritates Lukas, but he takes it and pockets it all the same.

All Emil wanted from the start was to go on a simple outing with his brother and friend and go home on a light note. He suspects if his brother allows him, Mathias will have baked a fresh molten chocolate cake, rich with bitter cocoa just the way Emil likes it. Now, if he asks, Emil is afraid Leon might go out of his way to order something ridiculous for his birthday. He thinks if he ordered in advance, Leon will have given him a specially baked cake all the way from, oh, Dotriba*, perhaps.

Outside, the sun is starting to set, meaning there is little need for Leon to take out his D.U.M.B. sunglasses unless confronting someone face to face. The festive district slowly comes alive with flashing lights and Cubes buzzing with advertisements akin to Neon. Teenagers crawl out of their dark holes and flicker with brightly colored clothing to reflect off the rainbow hues between restaurants and gaming centers. The once quiet streets jingle and blast music with blaring deep basses and raunchy techno and electronic. Emil wishes he had a pair of stylish headphones like some of the people his age to cover his ears; however, he has a feeling he will need to pay attention to whatever Leon is going to be saying for the rest of the night.

"So where are we going first?" Emil asks when they exit the hotel. He does not recognize the name, but with more older and richer guests walking in an out, he concludes this is a place for the wealthy. "We already went to the midway, and we already ate."

Leon clicks his tongue. "Well, I thought we'd go around Waves. It's not bad at this time of the day." He looks over in the direction of Lukas and Mathias who are, as mediated upon, standing approximately five meters away. "I think your brother and his soul mate can have a good time, too."

Emil finds it strange when Leon refers to Mathias as Lukas' soul mate. They are more like friends if anything. Never in his entire life did he ever see either of them make romantic advances on one another, and yet, within a short month or so of knowing Leon, they already...

"Ice?"

"Buh—I—What?"

Leon snaps his fingers in front of him. "You were spacing out there for a second. I was asking you if Waves was alright."

"Waves? Uh, yeah. Sure. Waves is fine. I've never been there."

"That's cool." Leon, leading the way, takes Emil's hand and begins to walk. In these busier parts of the festive district, there are automated walkways with glistening belts to help get from one point to another in a timely and environmentally friendly fashion. Lukas and Mathias follow closely behind as noted by Mathias' loud and hyper voice. Emil wonders if he drank some alcohol back at the suite.

Along the way, Leon passes through gaming arcades, stimulators, and a scattered amount of restaurants. There are also clubs found throughout the district, each with its own set of rules, people, and themes. Emil once heard some colleagues talking about going to a club that only allowed in people who wore all white. He thinks it had something to do with utilizing black lights—that is, for more than just revealing the hypnotic reflection off of white clothing.

Further into Retro, they pass through a strange alley filled with animal themes. There are signs crafted into attractively cute animals such as lion cubs, owls, dolphins, bears, and more. All of them, Emil notices as he scans the displays, have unusually large eyes, and honestly, he is surprised he knows the names of these animals; most of them have since gone extinct or are kept under high security zoos and government restoration facilities. For a time, their little journey remains uninterrupted when Mathias calls Leon and Emil back to stop.

"Hey, you guys! Wait up!" he says. "Lukas wants to stop over here!"

Leon and Emil turn back and see that Lukas appears to be grumbling something under his breath with crossed arms. If it is not because they are chaperoning him, Emil almost finds the image funny.

"Let's go see what they want," Leon suggests and leads Emil back. "What's up, you two?"

Mathias excitedly points at the sign. "They have these weird cute creatures here!" he beams. "Lukas wants one!"

"Do not," he mutters. His arms are firmly crossed. His head is bowed.

"You do!" Mathias insists in a loud voice. "I know you, buddy! You want one, doncha?"

"You're wasting time, idiot."

Leon rubs the back of his neck. "Um, what does Lukas want?"

"Those!" Lukas' soul mate points to a box in the back of the shop with a strange neon sign. For the life of him, Emil cannot put a name on the creature he sees. It looks like a shop for selling fictional animal companions—automated, of course. What he sees in the back can definitely not be considered a real animal, extinct or not. They look like fluffy balls of white cotton than fur. In the place of ears are two waving leaves atop their heads that tingle and sway. The sound they make sounds irresistibly yet annoyingly cute, like a cross between a coo and a purr. They also appear to utilize the same magnetic hovering mechanics that Cubes use because these odd creatures can fly. They even sparkle when they…Emil decides that they are ruffling their fluff. With tiny yet gleaming eyes and small rodent-like mouths, they appear to be something an advocate of the cute and exotic would enjoy. Lukas, apparently, happens to be one such advocate; Emil and Mathias can see it.

Leon raises an eyebrow. "Those? I think they're some kind of fairy. My cousin has one; she collects all sorts of weird things. I can buy one for you if you want."

"No need to," Lukas says. "We should continue."

But Mathias thinks otherwise. "That's alright, Lukas, ol' buddy. Don't try to hide it from me." He stupidly grins and earns a knee to his stomach. Even when he looks like he is in pain, he still manages to smile.

Emil reads a nearby sign. "It really says they're fairies? They don't look like any fairies I've ever seen."

Leon smirks. "You ever see a real fairy, Ice?"

"Well…no," he embarrassingly admits.

"Then who's to say these aren't what fairies look like?"

"Yeah!" Mathias agrees. "Lukas, I'll buy ya one!"

"Don't waste your money," he hisses. "Those things are worth more than what your family makes in two weeks."

Leon suddenly has an idea. "Here, I've got something. Mathias, give me your phone."

Emil rolls his eyes. Lukas tries to stop him, but the trusting baker hands his phone over to Leon without a second's thought. After some quick typing and wiring, Leon hands the phone back to Mathias and tells him to go ahead and buy the fairy. He must have transferred a large sum of heta into Mathias' account.

"Did you make sure the transfer was secure?" Emil frowns.

"Psh. Have some faith in me, Ice."

Lukas is still reluctant about using Leon's money, but Mathias excitedly drags him into the shop to pick out a fairy. Mathias has always been quicker to adjust and accept things than his quiet and constipated counterpart. It is during this kind of scene that Emil remembers something familiar. This is not the same place, but he feels as if he has been here before.

"It's funny," he says without thinking as Lukas and Mathias are arguing over which fairy to buy.

"What's funny?"

"This setup."

"Setup?" Leon does not understand the context.

"Back when we were kids, my parents would let us buy things—nothing like a pet, but something we were indecisive on. My brother always thought about what I wanted even if I didn't want to trouble him, and we always ended up buying what I wanted and not what he wanted. Seeing this…it feels like we're the parents now, the way we're buying something for my brother." He shies away as a smile forms. "It's pretty stupid, I know."

"No. Not at all." He smiles as he looks at the two grown men bickering over which fairy is the cutest and most compatible. "I don't have any siblings, so I wouldn't know what that's like. Even then, I just got whatever I wanted." His voice falls silent as he thinks on something. "What about you? Are you happy?"

His shy, white-haired friend furrows his eyebrows. "In what way?"

"Hanging around me and living off my luxury."

Emil's voice falls flat. "If you weren't Leon Wang, I'd almost call you pretentious."

"I'm flattered," he laughs off. "But you haven't answered my question."

"If I'm happy…" He looks over at his brother and friend who have just finished selecting a fairy. It looks like all of the others with its soft green leaves of ears and fluffy white fur. He cannot see it clearly from here, but from what he can make out, he thinks he can capture a glimmer of something special in his brother's normally placid eyes.

"I guess I am sometimes," he admits, "but not when you're using your money for stupid things like fancy hotel rooms for the two of us and repairing doors you broke."

"Oh, okay."

Off in the distance, Mathias signals over an assistant Cube and rings it up with a scanner. The Cube managing the store asks if he would like a little carrying bag and a box to go with his new purchase. Lukas ends up choosing a mint green carrying case complete with a handle and a small leash. He has the option of choosing its gender and giving it a name, but he does neither at this time. Mathias, beaming with pride at buy his friend a present (albeit with Leon's money), walks jubilantly out to meet the other two to continue on their way to Waves.

"Happy, Lukas?"

"Shut up," he mutters while examining the fluffy fairy in its cage.

"Not even a 'Thank you', eh?" Leon mutters.

"From who?" Emil asks. "Lukas or Mathias?"

"Lukas didn't even thank Mathias."

"Oh." Emil lets out a small sigh. "They thank each other in their own ways."

"Do they, now?"

He nods, and they make their way to Waves. The entire time as they make their way through Retro, Emil takes glances back to his brother. Like a child eagerly waiting to get home to play with a new toy, he intently looks inside his cage and stares at the fluffy fairy cooing and purring inside. And, also like a child, he does not have the courage to work up anything to say to Leon anymore. It seems bribing him with cute things works on him, Emil decides.

* * *

Waves, like the Highway Fairgrounds, is an amusement park. The atmosphere differs from the place Emil and Lukas used to go to as children in that the themes and rides are more focused on young adults and teenagers than families. In school, Emil was invited to go to this place on a field trip with his classmates, but he was sick on the day of the field trip and had to stay home under his mother's care. This will be the first time he will enter Waves' grounds.

"It's very… _blue_ ," Emil says as he looks up at the entrance sign that is fashioned into two types of waves: resonance and water. Both themes, he decides, are appropriate for this place. The sign is fashioned out of neon like most in Retro and sits on a large glass fixture, surrounded on all sides by a pool. Emil cannot tell what material the structure is made out of in the dark, though the shape appears to be a tidal wave swooping outside of the amusement park like it will swallow up any incoming visitors with its monumental size.

"I remember it being cleaner the last time I came here," Leon comments as he looks around. Emil scans the floors for any sign of garbage, but he does not see any. If that is the case, he can only imagine what Waves looked like in its prime years.

"Ooh, Lukas, let's go on Amp!" Mathias proposes when approaching the ticket booth. "I've always wanted to go on!"

Though it is difficult to see his true complexion in the setting sun and reflecting neon, Lukas' face resembles that of someone suffering from anemia. If Emil knows better, his brother might very well faint.

"Ice, what do you think?" Leon asks when he approaches the Cube. Because it is automated, he does not bother putting on his disguising sunglasses. Emil wonders if he ever will. Hanging out around him is risky enough, but for Leon to be inside a place filled with possible fans, it is advised for him to take some precautions.

" _I_  think you should make sure no one recognizes you here," Emil tells him. "You're not wearing anything heavy, and this is Waves. There's bound to be someone here that'll recognize you."

"Don't worry. I've done this, like, nine times," the celebrity casually says. He collects the tickets printed on Plastichip and distributes them to each person. "In my entire life of acting and singing, no one's ever recognized me in the crowds, and I've even performed here. They usually don't give a second glance if I'm not decked out in something flashy." He then remembers none of his guests are familiar with his acting or singing careers. "Oh. Right. I wear costumes when I'm on stage, and I look, like, totally different on television."

"I can imagine," Emil comments. Lukas should have made that comment, but he is still preoccupied with his new pet. Honestly, he is surprised the park let him take that thing inside the gates with him.

Only when they are officially in Waves does Emil notice his phone has a special flashing icon of a wave in the top of his screen.

"What's this?" he asks.

Leon looks over to examine his screen and explains, "That's the Tidal Pass. It allows you to cut right over the long lines. Pretty cool, huh?"

"You got one for all of us?"

"If I didn't, we wouldn't have time to do other things, Ice." Leon points to the far end of the park to where the roller coasters are. "Over there's Amp, the one Mathias wants to go on. You've ever been on a roller coaster before, Ice?"

He shakes his head. "Lukas never took me on one."

"Oh. Maybe it's not the thing for you, then."

"I'm not a child anymore. I can handle it."

"Yeah, but you couldn't handle one glass of whiskey," Leon reminds him with a cheeky smirk.

"Don't remind me about that, Leon," he groans. "But I'm still going on Amp."

"Amp is the tallest and fastest roller coaster here, though, Ice. Are you sure?" Little does Emil know, Leon is using reverse psychology on him. The entire time, Emil thinks Leon is trying to dote on him like Lukas does, and that makes him even more defiant.

"I'm sure, Leon. It's my birthday, not yours."

"Great. When it's my birthday, I'll make you do what I want."

Annoyed, Emil rolls his eyes. "What I want for you to do is to lead the way. You said you visited this place nine times, didn't you?"

"Alright, alright." Leon checks to make sure Lukas and Mathias are roughly five meters away and in sight before signaling them to tag along. Along the way, he tells Emil about what happened while his "sorry little ass" was grounded.

"So, like, this guy, Yong Soo? He's a pain in the ass to work with. I'm doing this collaboration with him, you know, and he totally throws off the balance of the movie. The was like this time I was trying to do this fighting scene with knives and shit, when Yong Soo stops the camera, talks to the directors, and asks if we can draw out the scene with some women serving food, them getting held hostage for some shitty reason, and we have to save them with this complicated maneuver that doesn't make any sense if you talk to a high school student taking physics."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, sure." Emil just automatically nods when given the opportunity. He is not sure how movie processes work what with all the tricks and technology nowadays.

"And his food. Ice, his food is terrible. It's either too sweet or too spicy—well, Kasem's into that sort of thing—but it's also, like, the kind of stuff that you order a little of, and it's super expensive and cheap-looking. I don't understand those Altorienese, Ice."

"I wouldn't know," Emil comments.

"You should have seen his style when he first came to Eliatha. He was dressed in this bright-ass suit, and his body guards were doing the same." He bursts out laughing. "I should have taken a picture, but Kiku would have told my old man that I was—"

"Why don't you call him your father?" Emil suddenly asks.

Leon, taken aback, stops talking and falls silent.

"I-I mean…" Emil is not sure if he touched on a fragile subject, but the curiosity has been biting at him for some time. He also does not believe this is something he should leave hanging in the dark. "…you're always calling Yao your 'old man.' Is there something wrong with calling him your father or your dad?"

"He's not my dad, Ice. It's that simple." Leon's previous enthusiasm dies down at the mention of his guardian. Emil can see the little signs waning off his mood such as the pace at which he walks and his shoulders slumping in a sloppy arch. It must be a habit because he rubs his neck from time to time and twists it here and there. He must have hit a nerve.

"So? My father isn't Lukas' father, but he still called him 'Father.'"

Leon throws him a strange glance, somewhere caught between levels of being annoyed and testy. "Well, your dad didn't rob you of your childhood and throw you into stardom, now, did he?" He stops when he sees the stunned look in his friend's eyes. Today is his birthday. He does not want to hear about Leon and his troubles. If anything, he never expected him to show up today at all.

"Sorry," he apologizes, softening his tone. "I've just got a lot on my mind back at the studio."

"N-No, it's fine," Emil responds. "You even said you came here so you could get away, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" He rubs his neck, this time looking humbled than irritated. "You know, it's nice being able to hang out with someone who's…" He searches for the word. "…someone who's not somebody."

Emil raises an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? Am I not somebody?"

"No, not like that, Ice," Leon chuckles. "I mean, like, you're not someone who the world makes a big deal about. You're just you." He licks his lips and tries that again. "Shit, that came out wrong. What I mean is, you're important to the select people you know in your life, if that makes any sense. You're not a figurehead or an idol or a role model. You can be yourself." He lets out a heavy sigh and stares at his friend. "I think somewhere along the way, I missed the boat. At one point, I'm somebody to the world, but I'm nobody in my own eyes. Does that make sense?"

"No. I think that's stupid."

The sheer directness of Emil's comment catches Leon by surprise. Of all the things to say, he never suspected his friend would tell him anything with that tone—especially something as touchy as this.

"Leon, if you say that, then I really am no one. Tell me something: am I someone to you?"

"Uh…yeah. Yeah, you are, Ice."

"Then why would you say that about yourself?"

"Heh." Leon nervously chuckles and rubs his neck. He then pats Emil on his head and exhales. "I was being stupid. And just so we're clear, you really aren't a nobody, Ice."

"And neither are you—to the world or to me." Now it is Emil's turn to feel flustered. "But, I, uh, don't take that in the wrong context. I'm just thinking about how since meeting you that things have been…different, I guess you can say."

"In a good way?"

Emil bashfully nods. "Sure. For the most part."

Leon smiles. "Good enough for me. And look at that. We're here."

They are in front of Amp, Eliatha's tallest and fastest roller coaster. The construction and specialty falls in using magnetic boosters for increased spend and stabilization; it is the same as with trains and rails around Holo. The roller coaster is aptly named for its alternating hills that look like waves on a graph. There is a line forming at the entrance with a timer displaying the estimated waiting period. Emil's mouth drops open when he reads the approximation.

" _Three hours?_ "

"Give or take," Leon chuckles. "I actually waited that long in the line once because I was hiding from my old man."

"What?"

"He was being an asshole, so I ran over here and spent the entire day just waiting in lines and riding on rides," Leon elaborated. "It's not that bad when you've got people to talk to, I've found, but I was just listening to other people talking back in the day." He pats his friend on the back. "Well, now we don't even have to wait. After a few more rides, I want to show you to some places in Retro. That thing we saw in Teal? It's nothing compared to what we can find with the right amount of heta."

Emil cannot help rolling his eyes. "Sure, and money makes the world go around."

"In its own way. You can even ask Cheng. He'll tell you."

"Let's ride in the front!"

Behind them, Mathias and Lukas are nearing the entrance. They are about to get into the normal line when Leon tells them about their Tidal Passes. Mathias again suggests that they sit in the front so they can be the first ones to scream. Lukas disagrees and wants to remain grounded to watch over his new pet.

"You guys are such babies," Emil grumbles with arms crossed.

"Why don't we watch your pet, Lukas?" Leon suggests. "Then you guys can go first, and we'll be back here and switch places."

It is the first time Lukas directly talks to Leon for a while. "You think I'm stupid, boy? You're just going to run off and do your own thing. No. I'm going to stay here to make sure you two don't do anything reckless. I'll be waiting for you when you come outside."

"Lukas, you sound like Mom." Even back then, their mother never particularly enjoyed fast rides. She always stayed on the sides and took pictures while the rest of the family rode carts and spinning vehicles together. She did go on slow rides like trains, Ferris wheels, and merry-go-rounds as Emil recalls, though.

The comment eventually reaches into Lukas' nerves, and he finally decides to follow them so as long as he can keep an eye on his pet. Emil starts to wonder if buying that so-called fairy was a good idea. At the very least, it keeps his brother's mind occupied on other things besides what other nasty remarks to say about Leon and Mathias.

The Tidal Pass entrance is close to the exit of the ride, where a sign with a glowing, animated tidal wave is stuck on an infinite loop of riding itself out. Here, Leon leads the four of them through the empty line and easily past all of the normal visitors. Barely two minutes of walking later, they are at the front of the line and comfortably seated into the cart. Lukas is asked to set his cage aside where an attendant will watch his belonging until after the ride is finished.

Amp consists of a small cart with two seats in the front and two in the back unlike other roller coasters in Waves. The sides are painted yellow with jagged green stripes that resonate outward like lightning. In the front, there is a tunnel that glows with rings of multiple colors like a rainbow. Emil hears the murmuring of the crowds and loud, screeching music to counteract the loud roaring of the engine thrusters. He looks off to the side while getting secured and sees screens playing advertisements and music videos to increase the patience of the queue line. A little closer is Lukas' fairy that pokes its head outside of its bars to see the action. From its innocent appearance, it does not look like it belongs here.

"Nervous?" Leon asks. "This is your first time on a roller coaster, right?"

"Y-Yeah," he warily says. "It's just a bunch of ups and downs, right?"

His friend gives him a reassuring smile. "Pretty much. You know, compared to the speed of the Lightning Rail, Amp isn't even close. It's the acceleration that makes a difference, you know." By acceleration, Emil believes he is referring to directional changes as well as speed—changing velocity, basically. The experience of rapidly altering one's speed and undergoing sharp turns is what makes a roller coaster ride a unique experience.

Once everything is secured, the attendants move back and announce the clearing track.

"Clear," the attendant says through the intercom. "Have a nice life."

Emil is about to say something when his head suddenly rams against the back of the seat. A loud screech blasts into his eardrums in a deafening roar that shocks him even more than the abrupt surge of speed. The cart goes so fast that his eyes cannot process the breaks between the rings of light in the tunnel, and they all meld into a singular tube that glows bright and bright as they ascend up the hill. His stomach throws itself into his back, and his lungs feel like they are going to burst. The tunnel opens up and reveals a vast cityscape of lights as far as the eye can see. From here, he can even see the ends of Holo and Neon all the way across Wire.

The view only lasts for a brief second before the first drop hits him. He has never felt this way before. He grips the handles of the cart as tightly as he can and squeezes his eyes, hoping to reduce the wind from drying them out. Mathias screams throughout the entire thing as another magnetic booster shoots them up onto another ramp and across a turn. The cart jerks and flings Emil to the side. He is grateful for advanced engineering. Had he not been secured, he would have gone flying. Another drop arrives, and at the end of this one is a large loop. The wind tickles his neck and ears when the momentum carries them forward. The centripetal force pushes back on them as they make their way around the circumference of the loop and back on up. Ahead are twists and multiple loops. Mathias continues to scream at the top of his lungs without losing any air. Lukas says nothing in the front. Emil cannot hear Leon if he is saying anything to him. His face is drained of color. His knuckles are cold white.

They go through another turn into a downward spiral when he hears Leon shouts something.

"Cam!" At least, that is what Emil can hear before something bright flashes into his eyes and renders him blind for a spell. A few hills later, the cart pulls up onto a flat surface where Leon yells a more audible, "Block brakes!"

Emil does not understand the term until the very end when something squeezes on a piece of the cart and renders it motionless. Emil, Mathias, and Lukas lunge forward and utter painful groans. Leon remains in place all the way until the cart coasts back to the exit, laughing the entire time.

By the time the straps and seatbelts are taken off, Emil has to regain his balance. His feet feel different when supporting him as if he had spent a few days in space and just got back to Earth. Lukas shakily makes his way to the platform and picks up his fairy, never saying anything when exiting the ride. Mathias looks more energized than ever, catching up to Lukas and talking about which parts he enjoyed and what he could see at the top of the highest arch. Leon waits for Emil to steady himself before heading out.

"That was fun, right?" he smiles until he notices how quiet his friend has fallen. "Um, hey, Ice? You okay?"

"Uh…huh…" he slowly answers. His balance throws itself for a loop when he leans back and forth, left and right. There are times when Leon has to help keep him balanced and upright, cracking a joke about it along the way.

"Oh, before we leave, we need to see the pictures," he brings up. "I tried to tell you about it, but I wasn't sure if you heard me. Come on, I bet Lukas and Mathias are there right now."

Indeed, they are. Mathias is still laughing. Lukas looks like he will faint. When Emil shakes off his nausea, he starts to frown at the screen.

"Really, Leon?" he says.

"Really. And I'm going to buy it." He walks over to the attendant, a Cube conveniently, and asks for an electronic purchase. All the while, Emil is staring at the photo and wondering if Lukas will look back at this moment one day and remember it as much as he will.

"Lukas, you were really hanging on there, weren't you!" Mathias chuckles. "We need to come back here again, just the two of us!" Where Lukas should decline, he remains silent, clutching his fairy's cage all the while.

Leon returns moments later with an electronic copy of the photo downloaded on some Plastichip and looks at it while Lukas and Emil are recovering. The picture displays the four of them in a cart. With Mathias in the front screaming his head off, he nearly covers Emil who was sitting behind him in the event of the ride. Next to Mathias, Lukas' face is equally as pale as it is in the present with hands tucked firmly along the grip bars and his head buried into his shoulders like a withdrawing turtle. In the back, Leon is making an obnoxious pose with his fingers close to Emil as if the drop did not affect him in the slightest. Both hands are posed into Vs with one set tucked behind Emil's head in the shape of bunny ears. Emil was so preoccupied at the time that he did not even feel the light touch of his friend's fingers making that comical gesture. As for Emil, his face is frozen much like his brother's. Aside from the bunny ears, there is little else to say about him.

"Leon, you ass," Emil snaps when he regains himself. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to do that?"

"I did tell you there was going to be a camera," he smirks.

"That didn't tell me about the bunny ears! And really? Bunny ears, Leon? You're almost twenty years old!"

" _You_  sure don't act like it."

Emil snorts and turns away. "Whatever. Where are we going now?"

"Wanna go on another roller coaster—?"

"No," he immediately says.

"Mm, then how about the Ferris wheel?" he suggests. "It's slower."

Emil looks back at Lukas who is still mute. Mathias' previous excited chattering has died down into a tone of worry at how silent his soul mate is being. He might even be starting to read the mood.

Then again, probably not, Emil thinks.

"The Ferris wheel sounds good," he says, and they continue on their way. Mathias drags Lukas behind roughly five meters behind.

Next to a few roller coasters, Waves' Ferris wheel is one of the tallest attractions in the park. Like the rest of the theme, it resonates outward like ripples in a pond as it slowly turns around in place. When approaching, Emil notices there are mostly couples sitting in the gondolas, and there is just enough room for a small collection of people instead of a large group like in the Highway Fairgrounds. This must be because the Ferris wheel here is specifically fitted for couples, he thinks. If anything, he does not want to be in the same gondola with Mathias. The guy might shoot off his mouth and point out every little detail for him like an overexcited father might. The behavior is no better than a dog's.

And because of that, Emil proposes that Lukas and Mathias go into a separate gondola. Lukas does not say anything to this since he is still woozy from Amp. He quietly walks into the first gondola with Mathias and takes a seat. Leon and Emil watch with doubtful looks as they make their way to the top before the next gondola prepares itself for them.

"After you," Leon says and sweeps his hand towards the open gondola. Fortunately, there are Cubes manning this ride since there are not as many precautions they have to take. Emil steps inside the gondola that smells faintly of perfume mixed in with some air freshener to combat any unwanted odors. Leon takes a seat across from him and sits back as the door closes and locks. The ride up to the top is smooth and quiet, giving them the perfect opportunity to gaze out at Retro and beyond and start a conversation to liven things up.

"So what'd you think of Amp?" Leon asks. "Or roller coasters in general. Most of them are like that."

"It was different," Emil chooses to go with.

"I'll say. You didn't scream or anything during the ride. It was still fun."

Emil nods and stares out of the window. He can see all the way to the central district of Volt and past that to Neon where their previous outing never finished. A part of him is still upset about the events that took place in that district, yet a disturbingly nagging thought longs for him to go back one day; perhaps when they are older, he hopes.

"It's been nice hanging out with you today, Ice," Leon brings up, his eyes also wandering in the direction of Volt. "I had fun. What about you?"

"Crazy," he answers, "but yeah, it wasn't too bad."

The celebrity leans back on the glass wall and continues to stare as the buildings get farther away. Below, they cannot see the pedestrians anymore. "My birthday's going to be in two weeks from now."

"I know."

"Twenty's a big deal, you know."

"I know."

"I was thinking maybe I could do something different for once, just something to go all out with a bang since I won't be a teenager anymore." He tilts his head towards his friend. "And what about you? What's it feel like to be twenty?"

Emil shrugs. "The same except with one headache too many."

Leon laughs. "I'll just have to find out in two weeks."

"Leon, what do you mean by doing something different for your birthday?"

"Oh, that?" He purses his lips. "You know, just something that I don't usually do."

Thoughts pour into Emil's imagination. There are all sorts of wild ways for the rich and privileged to celebrate their twentieth birthdays that involve more than a trip to a restaurant and an amusement park. With Leon being an advocate of rebellious things, there is bound to be something extravagant in store for him.

"If I guess right, will you tell me if I get it?" Emil asks.

"Sure. Go for it."

Emil falls into silence while he ponders birthday celebrations. "Crashing Yao's penthouse at the top of Wang Studio?"

"Good one, but I've already done that," Leon chuckles to Emil's uneasiness. He decides it is best to not ask about that.

"Filming something stupid on set and releasing it to the public?"

"Nah, people have done that in the past. It never went well. The results are more boring and drawn out than you'd think."

"Okay…Then, are you going to invite a whole bunch of celebrities and news stations to Volt and broadcast a big performance?"

" _No_." Leon pronounces it in such a way that he is extremely against the idea. "My old man did that.  _Once._ The place became so overcrowded with regular civilians that we nearly got sued for indirect harassment and property damages. It was a pain in the ass to clean up. And I was only ten."

"Ten?" Emil makes a face. "Okay, then. Never mind that one." He tries again. "Throw a crazy drinking party for your family?"

"Ice, where's your imagination?"

"Don't blame me. I don't know what stupid things you celebrities do."

"Well, maybe that's the thing. You don't know what celebrities do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe it's a hint?" Leon teases.

"A hint?" Emil thinks hard. His friend is not someone who is exactly easy to predict, but he is not about to let him get the better of his brain. Unlike Leon, he is actually a university student. "Perhaps…you're not going to be doing something a typical celebrity would do."

"Getting warmer."

There is something. Emil delves further. "Something to do with family?"

"Sort of, but not quite."

"Friends?"

"Sure."

Emil does not like where this is going. "Me?"

"Yeah."

He runs over his clues. "Something to do with me that celebrities normally don't do…Is it something we're doing right now?"

"Mm, I guess you can say that."

"Going to an amusement park?"

"If you want to."

"But it's going to be your birthday, Leon."

"That's where it's different."

Emil sighs. He wonders if he is getting close. "Is it another date?"

Leon laughs. "I totally wish. Your brother won't let me do that."

"My brother…" Emil thinks he knows now. "Oh, gods. Leon, you're not…You're not going to spend your birthday at my house, are you?"

"Bingo." As a little reward, Leon gives him a celebrity-ranked heartthrob smile. Emil just frowns.

"Why my place?"

"Because your brother won't poison me on my birthday. That means I can try his real cooking."

"Oh." Emil believes he is referring to the time Lukas put too much salt on the potatoes he served Leon. So Leon has not forgotten about that instance. "Wait. What makes you think my brother's going to cook for you?"

"Because I'm going to be a guest, and I will pay handsomely for his services. Mathias, too."

"You're going to make him bake a cake, aren't you?"

"You bet," he grins.

Emil curses to himself. "Great. Now I'm going to have to get you a present. I don't even know what you want."

"I'll think of something. Speaking of which, I haven't given  _you_ a present, yet, Ice."

"Don't be stupid. You've already paid for a bunch of things." Under his breath, he also adds, "At least one of those things made Lukas a little happy."

"Yeah, but those were just things that came with the package." Emil disapproves when he realizes the "package" Leon is referring to is himself. How conceited.

"If you're talking about materialistic goods, I don't need anything. I have everything I want already." He does not know why, but by reflex, his hand digs into his pocket until he feels the hard, cold surface of his watch. Leon sees him take it out and examine the numbers, and in that moment, he feels a longing for his own watch. It is a shame his is under Cheng's care. Still, he is flattered that his friend makes this gesture. As he traces his fingers over his watch, he lowers his head until Leon cannot see his face anymore. It is not long before he completely turns away and hides even his reflection.

"Why are you so nice to me, Leon?" comes a quiet voice.

Leon automatically answers, "Because you're my friend."

"No. That can't be it. I only became your friend because fate told us to be. I can't really tell because I'm not one of them, but fate didn't tell my brother and Mathias to fall in love. They've known each other almost as long as we've been alive, and they're still just…they're still…" He looks up at the gondola above them. With the Ferris wheel turning so slowly, the entire ride is at least twenty minutes long. He cannot see his brother or Mathias above, but he can imagine what might be happening. It is nothing that will surprise him.

"…still just the way they are."

Leon golden eyes burn with a stark light. "Is that what you think about us? That we're just  _supposed_  to be friends because some stupid numbers stopped at the same time?"

Emil feels his presence first from the smell. He noticed it back in in Lotus when Leon got close to him like this before. The cologne he wears is a subtle sting of scents he cannot point out but dangerously desire. In the blend, there is still a faint odor of drying salt like he has been working out. But, of course, Leon escaped from a movie shoot just to be with him. He would have been sweating at the time.

"Ice, I'm spending time with you right now because you asked me to come here, and I like being with you. Back at Lapis, I could have easily taken you to your brother and gone on my way, but I didn't. You're my friend, and I want it to stay that way—if not for myself, then at least for you. When I saw you on the day we met, I saw someone who was desperate. You waited your entire life for me, and you've pushed others out of the way just to make room for me. That much I know. I've been there. We're together because somewhere along the way, someone knew we'd be compatible. Yeah, it sounds cheesy, but it's the truth. I want to make you happy, Ice, so let me."

He holds his breath as his heart beats faster. The pressure in his face builds up as Leon gets closer to him until they are practically touching. He can feel the heat of Leon's body waning off him. It is a gentle, compassionate kind of warmth—or so Emil wants to believe. He also believed from the beginning that Leon was perfect for him. Whether that belief has maintained consistency is still up in the air. Leon is arrogant, in some ways ignorant, obnoxious, cocky, pompous, bossy, rash, immature, careless, sly, unreadable, impossible.

"Leon, who are you?"

Leon does not understand. He remains at the same approximation as before, and to Emil's shaky relief, he does not make any advances. "I'm Leon Wang," he simply answers.

"Who are you to  _me?_ "

"Whoever you want me to be."

"Stop that," Emil harshly snaps. He does not fully understand his own tone. That answer makes him angry, like a broken promise repeated again and again until its song is old and mundane. It is not what he wants to hear. Leon is telling the truth, yet at the same time, he might as well spit whatever other lies he has thrown him in the past.

"That's bullshit, Leon. I know it, and you it. You change all the time for me. One day you're a godlike celebrity, the next you're some tyrannical stalker doing whatever in Eliatha he wants to do with me. You're saying all these things and I just…" He hopelessly shakes his head. "…I can't find it in myself to believe them. For all I know, you can just be playing the part of my friend or my…whatever it is you think you are. I don't know what part of you is the real Leon Wang, and that scares me. Say you're showing me who you are, but I can't believe it, Leon. I can't."

He feels sick and not because of the alcohol still cleaning itself out in his system. He has held onto these beliefs in the past, but saying them out loud and to Leon makes him feel utterly miserable and relieved. The combination revolts him.

Something light brushes across his forehead. Emil's eyes focus up and see the fuzzy silhouettes of Leon's fingers running through his silver bangs. His lungs are about to burst. He can feel Leon's breath running down his neck. As his lips part, he catches a faint hint of sharp mint that sends tingling electric signals down his spine. A hand creeps up and wraps around his neck. He cannot move, and there is nowhere to run. The fact that Leon promised not to do  _that_ to him barely registers in his head. His eyelids flutter. The lights around him blur into fuzzy orbs that float aimlessly to the ground with the ascent of the gondola.

The Ferris wheel stops and time with it. His eyes are lazily shut as he prepares himself for the inevitable. One of Leon's hand remains firmly around his neck, the other snaked around his waist in a confident hold. They stand there for a small eternity while Emil's mind goes blank and the gears freeze.

And then, the wheel turns again, the world alongside it. Something taps his forehead. Emil is too stiff to see what it is, but he knows enough that it is not what he thinks it is. Both hands leave him, gravity pulling them to the surface. Leon's scent dissolves. The air grows cool. The spell is broken.

"I promised," Leon says, and that is all he needs to say to see his friend's reaction. He suppresses a smile when Emil finally shows some color on his face, and life returns to his body.

Too adorable. Emil is absolutely adorable and falling deeper into his clutches. Leon knows it more than anyone in the world, and what delights him most of all is that in his eyes, he knows Emil was hoping for that kiss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Anagram of "Bad Trio," which appeared in a different story of mine. It is the broad equivalent of western mainland Europe.


	16. XVI

Lukas and Mathias are waiting at the bottom when Leon and Emil exit the gondola. Having still remained silent since the previous ride, Emil's brother makes no attempt at verbal communication. Emil takes the opportunity to excuse himself from his companions to use the bathroom. The relief he feels for Leon not following him cannot compare to the sickening fire in his stomach.

Breath tight and eyes hot, Emil rushes towards the first stall he can find and collapses behind a locked door. His vision blurs. Gasping, he hurls forward into the toilet bowl and retches. Nothing comes out to his short relief, and he takes a quick moment to catch himself. Outside, a pop soundtrack quietly plays in the background amidst the sounds of amusement park rides and visitors. He coughs once and sniffs. The air in the bathroom is considerably cooler than that of the outdoors, so he remains kneeling in a confined position until he can gather his thoughts together without having to worry about the heat.

He counts the seconds. They dissolve into minutes. Three, four, five. Five is enough time, he decides, and stands in a straight, albeit faint stance. It takes a while for him to regain himself before deciding to exit the stall and going to the sink. When he turns the sink on, he washes his hands twice, once for sanitation, the other to preoccupy his mind. His hands are still dripping wet when he wipes his mouth. The sink still runs. He sniffs and wipes his mouth again, noticeably with applied force. Then, he bites his lips.

Lips.

Cursing, he throws his hands into the running water and splashes water over his face. The nausea remains. At first, he wonders if perhaps the effects of the alcohol are still there. They cannot be, he briefly thinks, soaking his bangs until they are just as wet as his hands. He studies himself in the mirror to check his appearance. His skin is just as pale as before, no hint of red to be found—or perhaps it is due to the cerulean light of the thematic bathroom. His eyes wander down past his nose to his mouth. Again, he bites on his lips. Harder this time. He shuts his eyes and feels a hot wave pass through him. He hisses a curse and shuts the sink off. The water drains, but the memories and thoughts running through his head up in the gondola remain imbedded in his brain.

That guy. That  _fucking_ guy. Why did it have to be him? In no way can he understand the twisted strings that brought them together. It feels foolish to accept it so easily. No. It is impossible. Not only can he not accept it, he does not know if he wants to.

It horrifies him. He remembers expecting it. His smell, his heat, his touch. It brings him back. It was not just the physiological experience. The part he had control over, his brain, his entire wiring down to his raw emotions, all of it was preparing him for that singular moment. Did he want it? That part frightens him the most of all.

* * *

"He  _what?_ "

"He skipped out during break and never came back."

"Well, did you try calling him?"

"He left his phone back at the set, so I don't think he could've gotten very far."

Lien has to refrain from making any changes in the volume of her voice. Any softer and Kiku will think she is being secretive; any louder and the rest of the staff will think it is something urgent—which it slightly is, but she cannot afford to disclose this.

"Do you have any idea of when he might return?"

"I don't know." Kasem sounds only mildly concerned despite his job being on the line. Lien wishes he would take these types of situations more seriously sometimes. "But the way I take it, Leon's like a cat. He kind of comes and goes as he pleases. He'll be back sooner or later. I have a feeling he had something he wanted to do today."

Lien furrows her eyebrows. "Something to do? He didn't tell you, I suppose?"

"No. I—Oh, wait. I forgot about this part. He said he went to get something to eat."

The secretary falls back in her chair and lets out a heavy sigh. It is not uncommon for Kasem to be so forgetful of certain details, but going to get something to eat for several hours seems out of the ordinary. Once again, due to Leon's brashness, the studio lost money for lost production time. The screening might have to be pushed back. This is not something Yong Soo's agent is pleased with, either.

"Alright." She takes a deep breath. "Here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to get ahold of Cheng and ask about this. Until then, just…just keep looking. Message me if something happens. There's no need to call me for this type of situation."

"Okay. Works for me. Bye, Lien!"

"Have a nice day," she sighs and gratefully hangs up. Here on the top floor, there are only so many eyes and ears that can observe her, though the ones that can are the ones she dreads the most. Taking a moment to relax, Lien quickly sends a message to Cheng and returns to her filing work, tapping her foot and wondering if her cousin's happiness is truly worth this much.

* * *

Leon is the first to notice Emil when he comes out of the bathroom. Behind him, Mathias is talking to Lukas about the light subject of his parents and cleaning windows. The relationship they have is light compared to what Emil imagines Leon wants, yet at the same time, he cannot fabricate what that relationship might be.

"Ice, you okay? You look pale—not that you're not already pretty pale, but you get what I mean."

"I'm fine," Emil tells the celebrity. "I think the nausea from Amp made me a little sick was all."

Unconvinced, Leon comments that it is unusual for him to feel sickness so long after the ride.

"Ah, let the guy go," Mathias brushes it off after listening into their conversation. "Ice's always been like that."

"Have not," Emil distastefully mutters. Leon hears him and chuckles.

"So where do you want to go next, Ice?"

"I really don't care, Leon," he sighs. All the while, he looks away from him to avoid confrontation.

As a result, Leon picks their next destination. "Then, we'll go to Radius. It's a spinning ride."

Emil blinks. "Then…pass. I'm still feeling sick."

"Hmm? Okay. But, like, most of the rides here are fast or dizzy here at Waves. Then…oh, whatever. We can finish this another time—maybe when you're folks aren't here to babysit us."

In front of his brother and Mathias, Emil cannot bring himself to tell Leon he does not want there to be a next time. He wonders where his lack of voice comes from, whether from having his brother acting as a cushion or being able to speak with a celebrity privately. Neither reason suffices, but his voice falls mute and unresisting.

They leave the park moments later despite Mathias protesting to go on more rides. He eventually gives in after seeing how uncomfortably silent Lukas has grown since riding the roller coaster and adds on with the excuse that he will need to prepare breads for tomorrow's crowd.

"You know, if I'm being, like, too much of a hassle, you two can just go home and do your own thing," Leon proposes.

"No, Leon," Emil cuts him short. "I'm going with them. It's late. I bet your own father's worried about you."

When he does not say anything back, he rushes to his brother's side and does not look back, fearing if he does, he will not be able to resist him.

However, he hears something, feels something. In the short period that he thinks he is free, the window shatters with that looming presence that he cannot shake off. Wondering if he should ignore it or not makes the sinking sensation in his chest clench tighter than what he experienced in the bathroom. It hurts him.

"Ice—"

"Leave me alone."

He does not. "Listen, it's going to be awkward if I say any more, but I just want to let you know I had a good time today, even if it was pretty short. I was planning on getting you a real present, but…" He pauses as if looking ahead. "Just wait for it. I'll get it for you sooner or later. Promise."

And just like that, he leaves. Upon that last word, Leon vanishes like a shadow disappearing with the setting sun. Lukas makes no sound when his brother holds onto his arm and does not speak for the remainder of the trip home.

* * *

When Lukas and Emil reach their house, Mathias bids Emil one last birthday congratulations and heads back to his own place. The night is less than young; both brothers should be asleep. Emil, however, cannot bring himself to feel tired. His mind is completely exhausted, yet the rest of his body keeps him awake.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Lukas releases his fairy and observes it hovering midway to the ceiling. Emil cannot work himself up to speak with him, so instead, he goes and takes a shower, hoping a moment of solace might help him clean his thoughts.

Little rivers of water trail down his pale skin as he washes himself through. He wrinkles his nose when he can still smell hints of the alcohol still on his breath and wonders how Leon was able to put up with the stench the entire time.

Stop. He flinches and shuts his eyes, perhaps believing it will block out that name, but like a psychological phenomenon, it hits him harder than before.

Leon.

Leon.

Leon Wang.

Leon Wang. Leon Wang. Leon Wang. Leon. Leon Wang. Leon Wa—

"Fuck!"

A moment later, his knuckles are bruised in a reddish purple, the ceramic shower wall still without any dents, and his teeth clench his lips. He is lucky to not have damaged any bones, yet even in the hot shower, he can feel his eyes starting to water. He bites down harder on his lips until he fears they will bleed. Lukas will not like that. He will find some way to stop him from breaking into this new habit. So, he stops. It feels like he is suffocating.

Lukas is waiting by the entrance of his brother's room by the time his brother finishes showering, and for a brief moment, Emil considers humoring his silence sentinel stance.

"Am I still grounded?"

His brother silently shakes his head, and Emil sees that as permission to retreat into his room; however, he feels a stopping hand press into his abdomen the moment he steps into the doorway.

"Wait, Ice," his brother stops him. "What happened on the Ferris wheel?"

He swallows a dry lump building up in his throat. "Nothing."

" _Nothing_  doesn't make you have a little breakdown like this," Lukas points out. "Something happened up there, and you're going to tell me."

Emil scowls. "And if I don't?"

"Then, you're grounded."

Silently cursing, he lets out a sigh and looks up at his brother whose eyes are unreadable, as they are most days.

"Leon…t—He tried to—"

"He touched you?"

Emil's face immediately turns hot. "What? N-No! No. That wasn't it."

"Then what?" After not hearing his voice for the entire night, Lukas' voice is suddenly cold and hard as his piercing blue eyes. Emil knows he will not be able to sleep until he tells him what happened in that gondola.

"Leon tried…." He holds his breath. "Brother, please, can we do this another ti—"

"Ice. Tell. Me."

Emil shuts his eyes. He runs his hand past his mouth. Several times. His breath holds and inflates in his lungs as he refuses passage through his mouth or nasal cavity. The burning sensation in his eyes that he felt in his shower returns.

Not tonight, he desperately thinks. Tonight is his birthday, the age he reaches adulthood. He should not be crying.

"Sorry," he emptily apologizes. "I'm sorry."

As he stands there in a trembling state, the unrelenting look in Lukas' eyes fades upon realizing the waters he treaded. Even so, he cannot let his brother run away from this. He needs to know what happened. If not, how else will he be able to understand?

"Ice…" He wants to reach out a hand, but at this stage, he wonders if it will only result in rejection. So, with a painful heart, he waits and hopes his brother will come around. He does, eventually.

"He…He tried to kiss me."

Tried. Lukas wants to feel relief, but the fact remains that his brother's other even so much as attempted to perform such an action. He wants to ask questions, but his brother is in no state to answer. In fact, he almost misses the bump on his arm as Emil pushes past him and throws himself face-first onto his bed. Whether or not he is crying cannot be seen from his position. He will have to intrude a little.

Lukas first speaks with caution, like walking tiptoed on broken glass in a room with needles for walls. On his brother's ears, he sounds like polished porcelain, pure and refined but breakable in all possibility.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing." His brother sounds like he is in pain. It is the same as the day his numbers clocked to a halt.

"I did nothing."

His heart goes out to his little brother. He wants to protect him, comfort him and be the voice of reason and sincerity. However, these are forbidden waters. He cannot hope to empathize with Emil, not after all the years of knowing his own other. And through those years and waiting, there was nothing. Just as his brother can do.

"Emil…" He speaks his brother's true name with a gentle voice. This is no time to scold or tease him. Whatever his brother feels is an emotion that cannot be put into tangible words or meaning. It is foreign to him. Unknown. Lost.

He hears his brother sniff again. He hiccups and rubs his eyes though no tears flow as before.

"…Was I wrong somewhere?"

Lukas stares and stills himself.

Again, his brother wipes his dry eyes. "The person my watch stopped with was supposed to be my best pairing relationship. It was supposed to be stronger than ours, Brother. So why—?" He chokes and fumbles with his words. "Why was it Leon?" Emil suddenly looks up and clings to his brother's sleeve. "Why did they pair me with him? I don't know what to feel… If this is supposed to be my best relationship, then what would have been my worst?"

"There would be none," Lukas tells him. "There never were any."

"But that's so unfair!" Emil cries out, his voice cracking. "I gave up every other relationship, any  _friendship_  I might've had with someone because I was waiting for  _him!_  I don't even know what I—I don't…" As his voice fades away, so, too, does his strength. He collapses into a fetal position and disappears into his bed's covers.

Lukas nearly thinks to get up and leave when a final statement comes out of his brother's muffled voice.

"But you know something?"

He sits and waits.

"I think up there, a part of me actually—" He suddenly freezes as if realizing the danger in admitting himself, and yet, moments later, he pushes himself to continue.

"A part of me actually  _waited_ for Leon to do it."

Lukas' blood runs cold.

"…Is that wrong?"

He cannot say anything to what he does not know. He holds him, instead, with a grip so tight that he does not let go of his brother, and there they remain until the night passes into morning.

"I don't know, Emil. I don't know."

* * *

A package arrives in the mail the next morning, though Lukas cannot fathom who knows their address outside of certain companies and a few distant relatives and friends. None have a reason to send a package, yet he takes it and examines it.

The wrapping is neat: a tiny container with tiny dimensions and clean boxing, consisting of a creamy white coat with a coat of metallic purple ribbons running in two lines around the corners. There is no return address, only the word "Ice" printed in fine, black calligraphy on an attached tag.

There are only three people he knows that address his brother with his nickname so familiarly: himself, Mathias, and Leon. He can only expect the last name.

Inside, he wants nothing more than to find the nearest disposable bin and toss the package away, but there is a curious nagging sensation eating away at his fingertips until it is too late. Before he regains himself, he has already opened up the package and looked upon its contents: nothing more than a phone.

Raising an eyebrow, he takes it out of its pocket and looks at it. The finish is clean and sleek; it appears to be a simple white casing, but when he carefully holds it out into the light, it shines with a frosted, milky pearl purple. He snorts. Only Leon would order a design specifically attending Emil's tastes. Thinking of his brother, Emil has not come out of his room since falling asleep the night prior. He must still be exhausted from the physical and emotional burdens of his birthday, so Lukas leaves him be until he feels comfortable enough to come out.

Emil eventually wakes up in the afternoon. The first thing he says happens to be rather normal, much to Lukas' relief.

"Why are you home today?" he asks, since as far as he is concerned, his brother should be at the pharmacy at this hour.

"You're up late," Lukas responds, ignoring his brother's question. "There are some leftovers in the fridge." Above him, his fairy, who is still unnamed, hovers next to his ear and cuddles against his wavy hair.

"You didn't answer my question," Emil says.

"I took the day off."

His brother makes a face. "Why?"

"I had to make sure you didn't drown in your self-pity," he bluntly answers. "Also, I have to make sure I watch you open your present."

Emil looks confused—confused and still drowsy. "Present?"

He silently points to the edge of the counter where the milky white package remains opened.

"What is it?"

"Something from Leon," Lukas tells Emil. "I was going to throw it away, since you don't look like you want to hear about him right now." From the look on his brother's face, his assumption is correct. "But I looked it up. It's an expensive model—custom-made—so I think we can sell it for a lot of heta to the right buyer."

Since Emil does not appear swayed, he adds, "Or if you want, you can keep it. The decision is up to you."

While he preoccupies himself with feeding his new pet pieces of diced carrots, Emil stares at his friend's recently arrived gift. The way his eyes glaze over give off the impression that he is looking at nothing better than the coffin of a long-lost significant relative or friend. It is one of a strange mix of nostalgia and dread, neither he wants to associate with Leon.

Nevertheless, he suspects he should make his decision soon, that is, before the value of this particular gift goes down, if he chooses to sell it as his brother suggests. He approaches the counter and looks at the untied purple ribbons tangled in flat loops at the corners. Next to the ribbons is a tag with "Ice" etched in glossy lettering, and the fact that it was addressed to him as his personal nickname makes him upset for reasons he cannot explain. When he lifts the cover of the white box, he exhales—out of relief or frustration, he also does not know.

"It's a phone," he says aloud.

"It's a  _nice_ phone," his brother elaborates, and Emil wrinkles his nose.

He takes it out of its slot and looks at it. He has to admit: the casing is well done. Everything about it looks perfect and complete, and considering his brother mentioned it is custom-made, the phone feels more personalized for him. Though slightly disturbing, he notices how the frosty casing has a similar color of his eyes when he holds it at the right angle. He cannot, however, deny that it is a lovely phone, and the model appears to be far superior to his own hand-me-down. The thought crosses his mind that he might keep it after all.

"Do you like it?"

"It really is a nice phone," he begrudgingly agrees.

"It might sell for triple the normal market value."

Emil's expression flattens. "Is that all you can think of right now?"

His brother casually shrugs. Once he adjusts to certain situations, he can be surprisingly passive. "I thought it'd be easier than having a certain significant other on your mind."

Nothing happens for a moment. It appears Emil is frozen in place when he spontaneously chucks the phone back into the box and storms out of the kitchen.

Lukas looks to him. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"You're not going to get into trouble, are you?"

"No. I'm going to the Køhlers'. Don't follow me, and don't touch the phone. I mean it."

Lukas nearly thinks of doing both things. Just nearly. However, by the time Emil heads out the door, he decides it is time for his brother to start making his own decisions. One day, he will have to leave the nest, as much as he wishes he could stay under his wings.

"Ice, what am I going to do with you…?" he sighs and strokes his fairy with a finger. His new pet has consumed an entire baby carrot and appears to be content and satisfied, judging by the cooing noise it makes.

"I'm going to have to find a name for you, too," he mutters a reminder. While staring at it, he catches how its soft white fur vaguely reminds him of his brother's own tousled hair, so much so, as a matter of fact, that another memory pops into his head.

"That's right. Ice…"

Unfortunately, his brother is out of hearing distance by now. With determination, he can walk at an incredibly brisk pace. He will not be surprised if his brother is a third of the way to the bakery by now. Whatever the case, he does not think telling his brother will change anything.

"Hmm. My little brother forgot to brush his hair before heading out."

* * *

Emil's chest drags through with his footsteps the entire way. He wonders what made him suddenly decided to go to Mathias: because he does not have anyone else to turn to or because he might be able to help?

He will find out when he gets there, he decides and progresses forth until he gets to the quaint, traditional bakery. The smells of fresh buttery breads already reach his nose and stomach a block before even reaching his destination. His hunger starts to kick in, as he curses himself for forgetting to eat something before arriving. There is no doubt Mathias and his parents will offer him food if he asks, but he does not want to trouble them for his sake.

Eventually, the bakery comes into sight, and with the lunch crowd being over, there are only a handful of customers browsing the shelves when Emil lets himself inside.

A familiar sight of tousled blonde hair and a large grin greets him within setting foot into the bakery; the loud voice hitting him just as hard with recognition.

"Hi, Ice!" Mathias shouts from across the bakery. Luckily for him, the customers are all used to the baker's loud voice and continue with their selection of breads.

"Stupid idiot," Emil growls through his teeth, wondering how much shame his brother's soul mate has to forgo in order to speak so freely. "Mathias, are your parents busy?"

The bakery raises an eyebrow. "Hmm? Oh, my dad's in back, and Mom's checking receipts. Why? Do you need 'em for something?"

He shakes his head. "No, I need you. It has to be you—" He pauses when he looks behind him. The customers look like they are ready to make their purchases. "Um, maybe you should help these people first. Then I'll tell you."

"Whatever you say, Ice," Mathias chuckles, scratching his head, and so, Emil stands and waits impatiently while his mouth starts to salivate. He wishes he remembered to eat before coming here.

"Alright, Ice, what d'ya need?" Mathias asks once the bakery is empty. Before getting an answer, he makes an amused face and pats Emil's hair. "Hey, didja just roll out of bed or something? Your hair's a mess."

Emil lowers his head and pushes his hand away. "Stop it. I was just in a hurry…"

"You want something to eat, Ice?" the baker asks out of nowhere.

He swallows. "No, thanks. I'm fine." But his stomach says otherwise, as it lets out a loud, noticeable growl even through the store fans and faint clanking noises in the kitchen.

Mathias bursts out laughing. "You  _are_ hungry! Ice, why doncha just say so? It's my job to make sure you're fed, or your brother'll make sure I don't hear the end of it."

"Sorry," he mumbles while Mathias goes into the kitchen to fetch something. He comes back with a large croissant, and judging by the smells, Emil can tell there is ham and cheese melted inside. Unable to contain his hunger, he quietly thanks Mathias and begins to nibble on his first meal of the day.

"So what didja come to ask me about?" Mathias asks, leaning on the counter.

Emil swallows a bite. "Mm, sorry. It's kind of personal. I...Is it okay if we go to your room?"

Without even needing to think on it, Mathias automatically says, "Sure!" and leaves his post. "Mom, take over for me for a bit!" he yells into the downstairs office before leading Emil upstairs.

Mathias' room, similar to Lukas' and Emil's rooms, is nearly void of clutter. Only the basic necessities are scattered throughout the corners and walls: a bed, a large bookshelf, two chairs, and a small coffee table in the middle. There is no desk, as Emil faintly recalls in Mathias' high school years, he always did his studying at their house or in the kitchen. Lukas occasionally brings up the many times Mathias would get in trouble with his teachers for handing in homework chips with butter stains or flour dusted in the ports.

In the place of books, there are displays of photos and digital albums. With Mathias never having the time to travel outside of the city, all of the pictures either consist of him and his family or those of Lukas and his own family. Further down in the dates, there are no more pictures of Emil and Lukas' parents in any of the files. Lukas, as Emil remembers, once got in a fight with Mathias for keeping photos of his parents, but Mathias miraculously convinced him to have them still on display. Emil believes if he browses through some of the albums, he can find pictures of his entire family floating around.

"Wow, when's the last time you came in here?" Mathias whistles. "It was, what, two years ago or something?"

"One," Emil corrects him as he finishes the last of his croissant. "Your mom told me to wake you up that one time you got drunk since Lukas wasn't around."

"Oh, that was you? Man, you looked a lot like Lukas…"

"We don't look alike," he frowns.

Mathias laughs. "Maybe not from the side, but when I see you from the back, you two look pretty similar—"

"Mathias," Emil cuts in.

"Eh, what?"

"This is serious."

His brother's soul mate looks clueless, adding to the rest of his appearance, as Lukas might add. "Ice, you okay? You don't seem normal today."

Emil balls his fists into loose balls. "That's because it's not normal, anymore, Mathias.  _I_ don't feel normal."

"Are you sick? You know your brother's gonna be a real pharmacist. Does he know—?"

He furiously shakes his head. "It's not the kind of sickness that can be cured with stupid over-the-counter meds. Mathias…" He looks up at the person who has been a part of his brother's life for as long as he can remember. How it ended up being him of all people still baffles him; it baffles even them. How can they be considered compatible? Perfect? Remotely possible?

And Leon. To Emil, can there be a chance at what their watches are intended for? He wonders. He has wondered since that very day on top of that building, thinking that maybe along the way, time really did stop at the wrong instance.

"Mathias, do you love Lukas?"

"…What?"

Of course he cannot answer immediately. Emil cannot recall an instance where they mentioned that word between each other, and for him of all people to ask, he can only imagine Mathias is unprepared.

So, he tries again. "My brother. Your soul mate. Do you love him?"

"U-Uh…I—" He runs a hand through his wild hair. "I mean, your brother's a great guy an' all. He's like family, really."

Emil watches without any expression as the rest becomes what he can only describe as a train wreck. Mathias' movements and speech patterns progressively turn erratic, and his face turns from a fair cream to a deep pastel red. He suddenly wonders if he was wrong to remotely think Mathias could answer him with a straight face. Then again, he cannot imagine anyone being able to when treading on such a personal topic.

"Er, where'd that even come from, Ice? I mean, come on, you can't just throw that out there an' expect me to answer it so easily."

"It's a yes or no question, Mathias. I just want to know."

"I know!" he bursts out like the rest of his emotions. "B-But i-it's not like I can just say straight-out if I l-love your bro—Lu…kas…"

As if saying something out of turn, he runs his hand over his mouth; it is similar to how Emil acted in the bathroom right after riding the Ferris wheel, and he momentarily wonders if perhaps their emotions are the same.

"Well…Mm. Ice, it's kinda weird." His voice, while still shaky, seems to have stabilized a little. "I met your brother before I really knew I was ready for a serious whatever you wanna call it. A relationship. Let's go with that. Yeah, there were crushes and puppy love in elementary, but it wasn't too long after that when I met Lukas."

He pauses to rub his head. With his hair being so messy, it is nearly impossible to see his fingers.

"Shoot, where was I going with this? Oh, yeah. Um, basically by the time I was ready, I was already stuck with Lukas."

Emil makes a face. "What do you mean by 'ready?'"

"Er…" Mathias lets out a hot breath of air. "Whoo…As in, you know, mature enough for a relationship. I toldja there's stuff like getting a crush on some cute girl when you're a kid, but it's nothing special. Most of the time, it's just because she's a little nice and pretty, but it's not like you know you want to spend the rest of your life with her—or I guess in our case, it'd be a boy."

Emil sighs.

"And also, people move on. With Lukas…I think back then, when I found out he was a boy, I just thought, 'Well, great! Now I have a best friend for life!' I wasn't thinking about how'd we'd be stuck together and never find anyone better out there." He swallows. His voice softens. "But I think your brother knew that before I did—maybe from the very beginning. He knew there wouldn't be anyone better for him than me, and maybe he thought, what? That the best thing for him wasn't someone he knew he could love, but someone he'd just be friends with?"

Suddenly he laughs. This is different. He should not laugh like this. Where Emil should be annoyed or relieved, he feels nothing but sorrow. This is not the Mathias he knows.

"It's sad, isn't it, Ice? Your brother's a great guy. He deserves someone good, some woman with a great personality and a good job, not just some friend always dragging him down. Heck, I don't even…I'm not even sure if it was a friend he needed. Maybe they screwed up. Maybe your brother was supposed to find someone he could really love from the start."

"Maybe…" Emil hoarsely whispers.

Mathias folds his hands. "You know your brother was crying when we first met? I think he couldn't believe his soul mate was me."

Emil does not reply.

"I don't know. I thought I could make it work." He exhales. "Shit. I fucked up."

As much as he does not want to push it, Emil forces his point. "You still haven't given me your answer."

"Ah, you got me," he nervously laughs. "Fff…Do I love Lukas? Mm, yeah. I do."

Emil blinks and straightens his posture. "In what way?"

But to his disappointment, Mathias can only shrug. "Don't know. I just love the guy."

"Oh…"

"Is this about Leon?"

Emil winces and squeezes his hands at that name. He cannot even bring himself to look at Mathias when he replies in a soft, "Yes."

The room falls into an unusual silence. Even though the bakery is alive with a working energy, it is as if time does not flow in this room. Everything is still.

A small gesture of energy brings Emil back to the room. His fingers start to move, and he becomes aware of the weight in his pocket, the watch he never fails to forget, despite even forgetting to brush his hair. The weight tugs; it pulls until Emil regains his consciousness and reverts to his original purpose of this visit.

"…Yesterday on the Ferris wheel…" He bites his lower lip. "…Leon tried to kiss me."

It takes a good solid minute for Mathias to completely register and process that sentence. In that time, his expression transitions from one word to the next, one slow facial expression at a time. It starts with a blank slate, the one he always uses when listening to someone else speaking; then, it becomes recognition, a expression he has with familiar names or faces; next, shock; finally, plain confusion.

"Wh-What? Whoa. Wait.  _What?_ "

Maybe this was a bad idea, Emil regretfully thinks.

"Holy shit! Ice, why didn't you say anything about it earlier? Hold on. Does that mean Leon loves—?"

"He doesn't," Emil snaps in an abruptly harsh tone, much to his own surprise.

Mathias gapes like a waterless fish, his mouth and eyes equally as wide. "How do you know?"

"I just know," he huffs. "It's not what you think. I think he was just doing it to set the mood. It's not like you and my brother. Leon's different." For whatever reason, he feels that he can tell Mathias more than what he can his brother; even though Mathias' reactions are nowhere near what he needs or wants, his defenses do not go up like with Lukas.

"He's impossible to read, Mathias. I don't know if he's acting or he's being serious. It's like he's playing with me, but I can't tell what he wants."

"Maybe he doesn't like being direct?" Mathias guesses, though Emil hardly believes that is the case.

"Pretty sure it's not that, but I feel like Leon's trying too hard to be my friend." He gets interrupted when Mathias pats his back.

"Then isn't that a good thing, Ice?" he chuckles, oblivious to the conflicting emotions of his soul mate's brother. "Other than me, you've never had a friend in your life."

"Thanks, Mister Obvious," Emil sarcastically spits and moves away from him. "I was hoping you'd know what to say since, well, you really seem to treat Lukas as a friend more than a…lover, I guess."

Mathias does not understand. "What's the problem with that? If he wants to be your friend, then let him."

"But friends don't just go kissing each other!" Emil bursts out. "And that's what I'm afraid of!"

"A kiss?"

"No, dammit!" he curses. "I'm confused because I don't know what I want Leon to be! I don't know if I want him to be a friend, or if I'll eventually… _fall_ for him! But if I cross that line, then—I don't know! Leon's not some ordinary guy!  _Lots_ of people know him! I bet people would kill to be in my shoes right now, but even then, I don't know if Leon really l-loves me…"

He stops and curses again. "You know what? No. He doesn't. He just doesn't."

"Ice…"

"It's like I'm his toy. He doesn't really like me; I'm just his by right."

Mathias frowns, a rare expression from him. "But that means he's yours, doesn't it? And you don't know, Ice: maybe Leon really does like you."

Emil testily lowers his head. "It doesn't feel that way, and not knowing if Leon actually has feelings for me is what makes me so…so mad! I can't trust him, Mathias. I can't even trust  _myself_  when I'm around him. It's like whatever it is I'm feeling isn't really me, or it's something I'm not familiar with." He buries his face into his hands. "I don't know what to do. It's like I'm running out of time. If I don't decide, then I'm afraid maybe I'll…"

His voice trails off. He cannot bring himself to say it. It hurts to think about it, and not just because it hurts him; it hurts the people he cares about.

"I can't," he breathes. "I can't say it." He feels the reassuring touch of his brother's soul mate. Where Lukas' touch is cold and light, Mathias has a warm, overwhelming embrace, similar to that of a father figure, both friend, both family.

"Easy, Ice," he whispers. "Let it out. It'll be good for you. Just say it."

"No." He looks away and holds his breath, hoping he can refrain from speaking until Mathias gives up. However, Mathias is stubborn. Knowing someone he cares about is having a problem is something he will not let go of.

"Come on, Ice. Yer all grown up now. How are you supposed to solve your problems if ya can't even let others help?"

Emil scoffs. The thought of Mathias helping him in this case is almost humorous to him; it is amusing if anything.

"You can't help me, Mathias. That's part of the problem."

He falls unusually silent.

Emil stares at him. "You want to know that badly? About me? About  _you?_ "

Mathias is still silent, and in such a moment, Emil feels nothing but feel utter pity, pity for those in his life and that for himself.

"I'm afraid I'll end up like you and Lukas. Just living in this convoluted limbo where you two don't even know if you genuinely love each other or not. If that's what having a friend as a soul mate is like, then there shouldn't be anything there to begin with. It might have been even better if we never had watches at all."


	17. XVII

No one expected Lukas to suddenly make an announcement after dinner. The day drew themselves out normally enough: Emil spent his time testing out the new features of his new phone, the present he chose to keep; Lukas spent his hours training in the pharmacy; and Mathias, shortly after his family's bakery closed, came to stop by for dinner after dropping off some rolls, most of which where eaten with the rest of the meal.

Emil never suspected anything. He returned from his trip to the Køhlers after calming down and seeing to Mathias clearing his head—then again, Lukas might have commented that there was nothing to clear in the first place. Lukas did not scold his brother for running off, nor did he bring up the proposition of selling Leon's birthday gift again. And so, the rest of the week carried out normally. Emil wondered if this was his brother's typical way of treating problems: simply ignoring them and letting them dissolve into nothingness.

It is a cowardly method, Emil thinks, however little he has to say in his own defense. He supposes in a way, he has been meek, too. He wants to be stronger. The courage he desires snuffs out like a light at the thought of confronting Leon again. He knows he will have to see him again eventually.

"We're going to see the watchmaker."

The clinking of silverware against porcelain halts at the abrupt declaration. Emil and Mathias' heads turn in the direction of the speaker; as in most occasions, Lukas' face is void of any betraying expressions. It takes a single look of judgment for Emil to accept that his brother is being serious about this.

"Why?" he asks his brother, for in a rare moment, Mathias is at a loss for words.

"You want to know why? It's because all this gray area is getting annoying." His fingers are digging into his arm. Emil reflexively bites his lips, wishing his brother will rethink this through, but considering he even bothered to make an announcement means he has thought this through to the end. Lukas is the stubborn sort, and he usually does what he says.

As Emil ponders what this means, he searches through his head for any recollection on the watchmakers. He has heard about them throughout elementary school to adulthood. Each city has its own watchmaker, a person designated to designing each and every watch for those fortunate enough to be paired with a soul mate. No two watches are alike; they are like snowflakes, completely unique and significant in their own ways. In that regard, though it is not up to the watchmakers to decide who will get paired with another, they are the ones in charge of all the records leading up to the pairings, dates, and times. They are the matchmakers of the world.

To think that they will go see such people makes Emil's heart race. He does not know how to feel. Excited? Afraid? He already knows of his soul mate, and yet, he wants to know more. He wants to confront the watchmaker and ask them why he ended up being paired with Leon Wang of all the people in the world. The soul mates are not limited to city dwellers. People from around the world have met with one another and fallen happily in love. It is not just a fairytale. It can only be calculated fate. That is the only answer. But Emil wants more.

"Lukas, is this about Leon?" Mathias asks him as Lukas collects his empty dishes. "I know you're not really into that guy an' all, but maybe you can try giving him a chance?"

"This isn't just about my brother and that boy," Lukas spits and tosses his dishes into the sink. He pauses to stroke his unnamed fairy and returns to cleaning up the table. Emil takes a piece of bread before he packages the rest and nibbles on it in silence. "It's also about us, Mathias."

Mathias blinks. Emil eyes his brother's soul mate and then his brother, hiding his lips behind bread so he will not have to feel obligated to speak.

"What  _about_  us? Are you saying we aren't meant for each other, Lukas?"

Lukas cannot bring himself to look in his friend's direction. His dark eyes wander down at the table and avoid looking directly at Mathias' confused expression. He knows he is running away and making excuses, but he is confused himself. That night when his little brother broke down in front of him, he could not do anything. He felt useless, helpless. He was weak and unable to act like a brother to Emil. The worst part of all is that he knows this and accepts this. He is not sure if going to the watchmaker will help improve the situation, but this is all he can think of at this point. There is little else for him to come up with.

"I'm very…confused right now, Mathias. I think we all are." Lukas slowly speaks in a hesitant pause riding on every other syllable. His throat chokes up and his lungs tighten. His heart hurts, yet he does not know why. "I've had my doubts long before I wanted to call you my friend." His hands tighten until his knuckles are chalk white. "I want answers. I've been running away for so long about this. I'm tired, Mathias. And to think that maybe my brother would have to go through the same thing as I did." He bitterly shakes his head. "I don't want that to happen to Ice. I want him to find closure—whatever that solution might be."

Emil feels his brother's eyes moving to him. He looks up and stares into Lukas' sapphire pools. Lukas takes a deep breath and ruffles his messy white hair. "Ice, whatever your heart tells you to do, make sure it's for you and you only. If you let anything else influence how you're feeling, then it'll destroy you." He takes another deep breath and starts to head towards his room. "I'm sorry for everything, Ice. I think I've been the one who's gotten in your way."

"Ah…Lukas?" Emil nearly rises from his seat when the look on Mathias' keeps him glued in place.

"Let him go, Ice," he says in a low voice, his bright, cheerful expression washed away at the weight of emotions pressed on his shoulders. "I think your brother's starting to catch onto some things. I think it's about time I caught on, too, huh?"

"Hmm." He sighs and smiles at his brother's childhood friend. It is a different sensation to grow up alongside him instead of only just in front of him. "Perhaps it is."

* * *

The watchmaker's house, or cottage, rather, resides deep within the Wire district. Emil is honestly amazed such a natural state of environment exists out here in the modern market district. The concrete disappeared past a wooden fence, and trees started to spring up like images gradually painted on a lush green backdrop. He touches the trunks as they walk uphill towards the cottage, feeling the rough organic surface of each living entity.

They feel different, he notices. His soft fingers feel how coarse the bark is against his skin unlike the trees he sees in Circuit. He vaguely remembers how bioengineers worked to create the perfect oxygen-generating trees with flawless disease resistance and non-flammable bark. In that case, these trees must be a lost and rare breed from the days before the Tekniq Era, of a time when such tampering was thought unethical and, in some cases, frightening.

"It's beautiful here," he hears Mathias comment as they walk along a trail surrounded by flowers. Emil detects hints of sour and fragrant smells tickling his nostrils. Never has he seen flowers grow so abundantly and wildly before. Usually flowers in the city are restricted to growing in boundaries and pots. Here, while white fences still loosely confine them, the flowers grow where the sun kisses their petals and leaves. If he listens closely, he can hear little insects buzzing around and taking nectar from the tiny blooms. Even the air smells differently here. While the city air is clean and filtered, his lungs feel lighter, like he is resting on a cloud without a care in the world. The smells of the earth calm him, and with the temperature and weather being perfect, he quickly loses himself in this place's natural beauty.

"Ice, don't fall behind." Lukas snaps him from his dreamlike wonder and beckons him to stay close. Emil follows behind while looking in every direction like a curious child. He does not do this when Mathias or Lukas looks back in case they tease him about it later.

"Here we are." Emil's brother stops in front of the cottage, a low-ceiling living space with a large wooden door squeezed in between the natural plastering. Emil is surprised, having never seen such a large structure made of wood found anywhere else besides museums.

"Look at this place!" Mathias breathes. "Lukas, this'd be a great place for a picnic, wouldn't it?" When Lukas does not humor him, he bashfully deflates into a humble state. "Right. We should behave ourselves while we're here, shouldn't we?"

"You think?" Lukas remarks when he approaches the door. Emil notices him hesitating to knock. He cannot even bring his feet to the doormat and stares down at it like he found something fascinating.

"Brother, what's wrong?" he asks as he goes over. He looks down at the doormat that looks as though it is made of grasses and dried paint. There is an image of a fluffy white dog printed in the middle, giving the impression that the watchmaker is a homely and friendly kind of person. Going back to his brother's hesitance, he suspects Lukas must be shy. He has always been nervous around strangers and can only put up a front for a certain amount of time. Mathias has always been the one speaking for him. Perhaps it is his turn to do the talking.

"I'll knock," Emil offers and gives the large wooden door three knocks with the metal ring hanging down the middle.

The three visitors hear nothing at first until Emil presses his ear closer to the door. He knows he should not be attempting to pry, but with there being no windows or cameras anywhere, he cannot help piquing his curiosity.

"…Again? Who do you think it is? It's alright. I'll answer it."

Emil moves away just in time to see a curiously short young man open the door. He has a round face and even larger, round eyes. Looking closely, Emil thinks he cannot be barely older than him and possibly younger than his brother. How this person is the watchmaker makes no sense.

"Um, hello?" he says. "Are you the watchmaker?"

"Oh, no, I'm not," the young man chortles. "I'm his bookkeeper, you can say."

"Ah." As a form of courtesy, he extends his hand out to him. "I'm Emil Steilsson."

"Tino Väinämöinen," the man returns. "It's nice to meet you." He pauses and looks over Emil's shoulder to the other two visitors. "Oh, and who are these two young men?"

"Lukas and Mathias," Emil introduces them. "We're here to see the watchmaker." He furrows his eyebrows and looks to the side. "We didn't need an appointment or anything, did we?"

"An appointment?" Tino repeats. "Oh no, no, no. Visitors are welcome to come here any time. It's just that this place is so far out of the way for most that we don't get too much company. The watchmaker's just fine with that as it is, though. Come in, come in!"

As the three let themselves inside, Emil sees that the ceiling is indeed a little low for his tastes. He has no trouble watching the rafters, but Mathias, who is the tallest one present, has to watch his hair from brushing into any dust along the ceilings. Had the situation been different, Lukas might tease him for having hair as big as his ego.

"Urk," Mathias groans. "It's a little tight in here, isn't it?"

"That's just how the watchmaker likes it," Tino says as he disappears into another room and the clinking sound of porcelain emits behind his voice.

"Speaking of the watchmaker, where is he?" Emil mutters as he lets his eye wander around the room. There are several organic elements to this cottage including sets of wooden furniture and wool rugs, all of which can be considered antiques and priceless collectibles in the right eyes. The smells are earthy and musty as compared to outside in the open air. Here, he can detect some dust tickling his nose, but it is nothing too overwhelming that he feels the urge to sneeze.

Scattered in the corners and on the cushions, stuffed animals with floral patterns sit arranged in neat positions all along the cottage. Some are horses and others dogs and various exotic animals that must be long extinct. The entire experience is like walking into a different dimension in time, and while foreign, it puts Emil's mindset to ease.

"Ice," Lukas suddenly says as a little metallic jingle comes from what oddly sounds like the ground, "come here and look."

"What is it?" he asks as he moves to his brother's side. He looks into the direction of his brother's finger and sees a small white dog with a tiny collar and a tiny pink tongue. "Oh. It's a dog."

"Hmm?" Mathias is also looking over his friend at the new visitor in the cottage. "Hey, look at you, little fella! Aren't you a cutie?" Emil watches as he bends over and starts to pet the dog on its head. Like any engineered dog, it pants and wags its tiny tail back and forth. Emil finds it funny how this is the most artificial thing in this cottage.

"Sorry for disappearing on you like that," Tino says, reentering the room. "I was making some tea. We usually don't get guests, but that doesn't mean we don't try being hospitable. Will you sit down with me?"

The three visitors look at one another before deciding to join this interesting character in the lounge. Here, there is a short table barely big enough for three people. Lukas offers to hold his teacup and saucer while the rest use the table for leverage. All the while, the little white dog, which Emil notices looks similar to the one on the doormat, sits by Tino and wags its tail like a cotton ball.

"So what brings you to our humble cottage?" Tino asks in between tea and biscuits.

"Mm—" Emil swallows his sip of tea. "We're here because we wanted to ask about the pairing process you guys have with the watches."

"Oh?"

"You see, I met my soul mate not too long ago, but it wasn't really what I was expecting. My soul mate was…a guy." At that last word, he tightens his grip around his teacup. "I've always thought that I'd have a woman who would always be there for me, and I wouldn't need anyone else. I thought I would always love her and she would always love me. I wasn't prepared for anyone else. So…what I'm trying to ask is, how does that work?"

Not fully understanding the question, Tino blankly stares.

Emil attempts to clarify. "Um, like, how does it work between two guys? I understand there are people like that, but when the watches pair two people of the same gender together, do they mean for those two people to be a couple and love each other the way any normal couple does, or are they expected to just be friends?"

"Mm. I see what you mean. Someone came to me with that same question once."

"Really?"

Tino nods. "It's not the first time this has happened, but it's more uncommon than the relationship you were expecting. I'd apologize, but this is just how things turn out. It cannot be changed, nor is it entirely predetermined. These things just sort of happen."

Emil slightly frowns. "But…that isn't fair! I didn't know this entire time. I've waited for nineteen years to be able to finally meet the person that was supposed to love me unconditionally, and now…I'm not so sure he really loves me."

"Can you tell me who this person is?"

Emil swallows. "Leon Wang."

As if out of nowhere, the atmosphere in the room falls rigid. The air feels a slight colder, and the warmth from the natural state of the cottage suddenly appears chilly and silent.

"I thought your name sounded familiar. Yes. You are a special case, Mr. Steilsson."

He raises his eyebrows. "How? You said there were several other cases like mine."

"Yes, but by legal technicality, your relationship with Leon Wang doesn't exist."

Emil can hardly believe his ears. How can his relationship not exist? What of their watches stopping together on that rooftop? Or of the things they did together? Or about that kiss they shared in Lotus? All of it was just…a lie?

"…I don't understand," he barely speaks.

"There are no records of your relationship with Leon Wang. They simply do not exist."

Emil opens his mouth to speak when his brother butts in. "That's bullshit," he growls. "Then why do you know about Leon Wang in the first place? How did you know he was supposed to be paired with my brother?"

Tino is calm throughout the entire thing. He does not wear a cold or stoic expression, and that exposes him to his state of concern.

"Someone from Leon's side of the family came here to ask about that, too," he explains. "Two, in fact. They came here inquiring about whether or not Leon Wang's relationship was justified or genuine. When pulling up the records and backups, there simply wasn't anything there."

"But…" Emil's voice cracked. "Then what was the point of the watches? Why did they stop at the same time at the same place?"

Tino lets out a sigh and sets his teacup down on his saucer. "I'm sorry, Emil. I don't know. I don't want to think it's a coincidence, but from what the records have stated, your relationship isn't genuine."

"To heck with it not being real!" Emil suddenly shouts. He rises up from his seat and knocks over his teacup, saucer, tea, and all. The white dog beside Tino leaps up and runs away to the next room. "I've waited my whole life believing someone would always be there for me! If not my brother, then at least someone else!

"You don't have any idea what it's like having Leon as a soul mate! I can't be myself around him. He can't do that either! He's a celebrity! I've pushed so many other people away from me to make room for him, but I just can't be myself around him because of who he is. What will people think of me and him if they find out what we've been having isn't even real?"

He furiously pulls out his pocket watch and shakes it in front of Tino. "Are you telling me this isn't real? That if I throw this against the wall, it's not going to break?"

"Ice, don't!" Mathias cries and stands to stop him when Emil slaps him away.

"Don't touch me!" he yells and throws a dark look at Lukas. "And you! If it wasn't because of you trying to get in the way, maybe I wouldn't be so confused right now! First you tell me not to fall in love with Leon, and the next thing, you're telling me to follow what's right—what's  _real!_  Look where that's gotten us now! Maybe what I have isn't real at all!"

"Ice…"

"I hate you!"

Lukas freezes solid.

"I hate you  _and_ this watch! I hate myself for not being stronger! I hate myself for being  _born_ —!"

_Slap!_

There are stars. A shock of adrenaline and wind rushes through Emil's body as he goes flying to the ground. He thinks he hears Mathias' voice, but the ringing in his ears and the blurry cloud in his vision prevents him from fully realizing the situation. Something throbs on the side of his head as he feels the blood trying to reach the side of his face. Burning pain pulsates in and out of his bloodstream and nerves. He lies there dazed and motionless, his mind blank and numb.

The first thing he regains of his senses is a cold, hard surface. It feels firm in his hand. The shape is just big enough for his fingers to wrap around. His fingers are able to find the strength to squeeze. When he closes his hand around the object, he finds it round and smooth. His next thought turns into worry. He wonders if the object is broken in any way. He wants to check on it and make sure nothing is damaged, but he is helplessly frozen. A flash of motion enters his line of vision, and a hand moves over his face and rubs the place that hurts. He thinks he hears words. Maybe somewhere in there, his name is spoken.

"Ice…? You hurt?"

Beyond that, there is shouting. Apologizing eventually arrives, followed by worry. Relief floods when he regains his balance and nods that he is unhurt, just a little dazed. It is only then when he sees who struck him. It is the watchmaker.

"Sorry 'bout that," he says in a deep voice. "Had t' knock you to yer senses."

Emil swallows. His throat is unbearably painful from shouting. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have yelled like that. I made everyone worried."

"They're fine," the watchmaker says and looks over in the lounge where the other three are trying to sort things out. "I think you should apologize to yer brother."

"Mm." Emil agrees. He sits up and rubs his head. The pain is still there. He feels somewhat grateful that it was not bad enough to swell. "I didn't mean it."

The watchmaker raises an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean to say I hate my brother." He hiccups and rubs his eyes and nose. "He's always been there for me. I don't know why I got so angry…!" His throat makes a choking noise, and he swallows his breath, hoping he can stop the tears before making another scene. To this, the watchmaker says nothing and sits with him like a silent sentinel. After a while, however, it does not appear Emil will recover soon. He hands him a glass of water and tells him to drink.

"Here," he says. "If you start crying, you'll get dehydrated."

Emil takes the cup and drinks. He draws the tears back in time and thanks the watchmaker for the water. From the corner of his eye, he sees the white dog curled in the man's lap.

"I didn't notice it before," he breathes, watching the way the dog licks its master's hand and nuzzles his large palm. The behaviors are more unpredictable and erratic, not fixated and formulaic like normal pets. "It's a real dog, isn't it?"

"Mm," the watchmaker nods.

"That's amazing. I've never seen one before." He hesitates. "May I touch it?"

"Mm-hmm." He moves his hand away and lets Emil pet the dog.

"Does it have a name?"

"Hanatamago. Tino named her."

"Oh. Interesting name." He continues to stroke her, and she licks his hand with her moist pink tongue. "If she's a puppy right now, won't she grow up to be a dog?"

"Mm."

"You'll still keep her then? Most people like keeping their dogs as puppies."

"She's still Hanatamago, puppy or not. If you stay a child forever, it's harder to grow and learn."

Emil falls silent and stops petting his dog. "I'm Emil, by the way."

"Berwald," the watchmaker says.

"It's nice to meet you, Berwald."

"Hmm." He pauses. "Are y'ready to go back to yer family?"

"Only one of them is my family," Emil says. "Just my brother. The other's his soul mate."

"I know," he nods.

"Oh…Um, again, I'm really sorry for causing any trouble. I'm just really confused right now."

"We all are. Man or woman or not, it's not always easy. It wasn't for me an' Tino."

Emil stops. "What? You mean, you two are—?"

"We are," the watchmaker confirms.

"W-Wait. Before I go, how do you two do it?"

Berwald, while stoic and solid in appearance, still betrays a hint of confusion.

"Uh, I'm just trying to figure out how I can make things work with my soul mate—if he can even be called that. Is there something I'm supposed to do to make myself trust him?"

"There doesn't have to be anything official 'bout that kinda stuff," says the watchmaker. "There aren't papers saying when two people are in love. Some fall in and out of it even when they have watches. Sometimes they move on. Some stick t'gether. The watches are just there to say when."

Emil frowns, still slightly confused. "When…?"

"Just when. It never says how."

"How to mold your relationship, you mean."

It is small, but for a brief moment, Emil thinks he sees Berwald crack a slight smile on his stoic face. "Yer learnin'. Take away the watches, an' you don't get locked in a single position. Watches only tell you one possible soul mate. Some people could have many."

"Like my mother," Emil mumbles, his head lowered. "Her first husband was her soul mate by the numbers, but she found someone else to love after he had passed away. Would that be the same?"

"Could be."

"That means even though my watch tells me Leon could be my soul mate, there might be others?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Did y'ever think about what Leon feels for you?"

Emil creases his eyebrows. "I don't know. I think that's another reason why I'm confused. I don't know what he sees me as, and I don't know what he's thinking.

"…But…I do want to know more about him—as both a person and a friend. I want to find out about what he thinks of me. More importantly, I want to know the truth."

The watchmaker's glass blue eyes shine through his rectangular lenses. "And are you willing to summon the courage to do that?"

Emil's hands fold over one another in crisscross formation. His hands are cold and soft in comparison to Berwald's callous hands that have become rough over years of making watches for the city.

"That's my biggest desire right now," Emil says. "I'm hoping I can gather the strength to find out. Maybe then I'll know more about how I feel on this matter."

The watchmaker nods. "That's a good start." He stands up and holds his hand out to Emil. "You ready to go?"

He nods and places his hand in his, surprised at the weight but gentleness of his touch. "Yes. Thank you, Berwald."

Lukas is waiting in the lounge when Emil arrives with Berwald and Hanatamago. Mathias, who appeared to be the most emotionally distraught of the three, runs over to Emil and wraps his arms around him in death grip.

"Hungh!" Emil grunts. "Ma—thias! Can't…breathe…!"

"Ice, I was so worried about you!" Mathias cries and squeezes even tighter. Emil wonders how he can even manage.

"Idiot!" Lukas snaps and digs his nails into Mathias' forehead. Pretty soon, trails of red beads start to run down his forehead from blood, and not long after that, Mathias reluctantly lets go.

"You could have killed him!" he scolds his friend. "What if he broke a rib?"

"But I was worried about him…" Mathias grumbles in pain and distress. He still has not noticed the blood running down his forehead.

"I didn't use any force," Berwald says, joining in the conversation. "It was just to knock some sense into him." Embarrassed, Emil looks away.

Mathias, however, is not convinced of the watchmaker's defense. "Liar! You were trying to hurt him, weren't you! If you try to pull that again, I'll beat you black and blue, got it, guy?"

From behind his glasses, Berwald's icy blue eyes begin to glow with a fierce light. "I'd like to see you try."

Emil grumbles from the side of his mouth, "Mathias, that's enough. I'm fine."

"Are you really alright, Ice?" his brother asks. "You practically went flying."

" _I'm fine_ ," he insists. "He didn't mean anything by it. But, more importantly, I'm sorry, Lukas. I didn't mean it when I said I hated you."

His brother gives off the impression that he does not care, but Emil is his brother. He can see through his façade and past his blank face to the relief flooding through his body and nerves.

"I know, Ice," he faintly smiles. "I'm glad you apologized."

Emil lets out a deep breath. "I'm glad you forgive me."

From the other side, Tino claps his hands together. "This is very good! Everyone's back to normal now!"

"Well, sort of normal," Emil flushes pink. Lukas blinks and cocks his head. "I've been doing some thinking. I want to stop running away from my doubts. Maybe with these kinds of things, they don't need to be forced."

"So you've decided what you want from Leon?"

"In a loose kind of way," Emil tells him. "I'll figure it out from here."

"Huh." Lukas taps his fingers on his crossed arms and looks over to Berwald and Tino. "Ice, if you could, I'm going to ask you to step out. The adults here need to talk."

Emil frowns. "I'm an adult, too," he reminds him.

"Yes, but this is something that we need to discuss in private. It doesn't concern you, so shoo. You can go play with the dog if you want."

"Really?" he flatly grunts. "The dog?" But when he sees the look on his brother's face and Mathias' expression, he decides to be mature and leave. "Alright. I'll be waiting outside." To his surprise, when he opens the front door, Hanatamago sprints outside and bounds into the garden. It is amazing at how tame and energetic a real dog can be. Being a watchmaker must have its advantages.

Outside, Emil watches the little white fluff ball chase her tail and leaps at butterflies. Some insects are actually finely made robots designed for pollination after a number of diseases caused the real populations to fail and die off. Some, on the other hand, have been bioengineered for disease resistance and diligence. It is these kinds of insects that he watches Hanatamago chase again and again without give.

"You're lucky," he sighs as he watches the dog. "Even when you grow up, you won't have the responsibilities I will. I don't even think they can find another dog to pair you up with." He digs into his pocket and pulls out his watch. Berwald could not have made his watch; he must have been a child when Emil was first born. Berwald or not, his watch mesmerizes him. He studies the patterns and grooves. Even after twenty years, the design is still beautiful. His gut feels sick just thinking about how he almost destroyed it.

"I'd better not do something so stupid like that again," he sighs and holds the watch as if holding a fine piece of glass. He opens the case and stares at the frozen numbers for some time. The watch feels dead in his hands. For nineteen years, it beat for him, counting down the seconds until he would finally meet his soul mate. It has done well, he thinks. He does not want to hope for it anymore.

As he clicks the case shut, something abruptly vibrates in his pocket. Emil jumps to his feet when he reaches down and pulls out his new phone. Somehow, it is receiving a call. Leon must have put service in the phone.

"Leon," the contact reads. It is not a message but a call. As it vibrates, Emil looks back. With the cottage walls and door being so thick, he cannot hear the voices inside without pressing onto the door. Perhaps it is best for him to not intrude. He suspects there is a good reason his brother wanted him outside. With nothing else to entertain himself with, he answers the call and strays from the cottage.

"Hello?"

"You picked up."

Emil dryly swallows. Leon's voice sounds almost nostalgic in his ear, a little haunting even. The casualness, the smug tone, the very touch of velvet that his fans enjoy so much is speaking directly to him.

"Why are you calling me?" he asks.

"Just seeing if you got my present—or if you threw it away."

"My brother said this was an expensive model," Emil slightly teases him. "He said I could sell this for a lot of money."

"But you didn't. And it wouldn't work. It's programmed to respond to your fingerprints."

Emil gets a sinking feeling in his stomach. "How in the world did you get ahold of my fingerprints?"

"You touch a lot of things when you're curious, Ice," Leon chuckles. He must mean well, but to the wrong ears, it can come off as disturbing and downright unsettling. "So how's your brother's fairy doing?"

"Good," he tries to normally respond. "He hasn't named it, though."

"Oh."

"Um…" He tries to think of something else to say. "So what are you doing right now? You're calling me, so you must be free or something, right?"

"Heh. Yeah. My old man chewed my ass out when they found out I wasn't in Volt. I'm stuck in the studio with a handful of bodyguards at the door now."

"They can't hear you?"

"Nope. I'm in another room."

Emil presses his lips together. "Um, hey, Leon, I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot me."

It must be his consent. "I was talking with the watchmaker, and he said two of your family members came over to look at the records. Do you know anything about that?"

"Uh…sort of."

"Well…what do  _you_ know about that?"

"Nothing."

He frowns. "Come on. You have to know something. Don't lie, Leon."

"No, really. I don't know anything. They both told me there weren't any records or something like that."

Emil can hardly believe his ears. "So you knew? F-For how long?"

"Couple of weeks now."

"And…you were okay with this?"

"Okay with what?"

"With the fact that our relationship might not even be official. Maybe we weren't supposed to meet each other that day."

"I don't know, Ice. I think we were. Plus, even if we aren't official, I don't, like, mind or anything. I'm glad we met."

Emil has to pause to hide himself from blushing. He does not even know why he bothers; Leon cannot see him over the phone.

"Ice? You there?"

"I-I…yeah, I'm here."

"That's good to hear. Hey, what about you?"

"About meeting you?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Um, I guess I'm glad."

"You don't sound too sure."

Emil sighs. "I've just been really confused lately, Leon. Lots of things came up, and…I don't know. I've never been able to take things as they go."

"Ah." Leon clicks his tongue over the phone. "I'd say come over to Volt, but I'm on major lockdown right now. It's pretty much like being grounded."

"I'll say. Now you know how I felt." Emil smirks, thinking back on the time he was grounded because of Leon. Now he has a taste of his own medicine.

"But the old man's gotta let me out by my birthday. Signings and shootings, you know. He's not like the others who give their stars a break. It's different when your guardian's pulling the strings."

"Does that mean you're not going to be able to see me?"

"Why? Do you want me to, Ice?"

His lips part as he takes his question into consideration. Just a few days prior, he did not want anything to do with Leon. He wanted to cut ties with him completely and forget. Now with the watchmaker telling him that their pairing is not even on record, he can be free. But at the same time, it means throwing away his first friend. He wonders if he can cope with that or if he can find another person like Leon.

"Maybe. More yes than no. But…Leon? Can you tell me something?"

"Hmm? Sure, whatcha want?"

"You'll promise to be honest?"

"Yeah," the celebrity answers without hesitation. "I'm listening."

Emil takes a deep breath and exhales. "…If our watches never stopped at the same time that day, and just by chance, we happened to be the only ones on that roof, would you have even given me a second glance?"

"Oh. Ah…that's a tough one." Through the speakers, Emil hears groaning like Leon is stretching. "I'm trying to think of any situation I'd be in where I'd be alone with some ordinary guy. Um…Well…" He thinks on it. "I mean, you do have some pretty exotic looks."

"And?" Emil presses, unimpressed.

"I would have looked at you for a bit. Maybe then I would study you and want to see your face. I'd look at my phone and think about taking a picture. I'll probably not ask you, and knowing you, you'll get upset if you caught me doing that. And I'd see your eyes." He sounds like he is chuckling through the phone. "Ice, you have some nice eyes. I've told you that, right?"

"Huh? I, uh…I wouldn't remember…" he sheepishly trails off, trying to mask his flattered emotions.

"Oh. Well, you do. I think next to your hair, that would be the thing that would catch my attention."

"Go on."

"After that, you might say something like, 'What's your problem?' or something like that, am I right?"

Emil's expression flattens as he decides to humor his friend. "Sure."

"I'd ask you if you were a model with how thin and pale you were. Maybe you'd blush and get angry at me. At that point, I'd know you weren't a model and ask if you wanted to be one. Since you wouldn't know me, you'd ask why I was saying these things or how come I was following you.

"When I'd tell you I'm Leon Wang, you wouldn't say anything. You wouldn't get scared or flustered. Maybe confused. I remember. You were confused that day. And disappointed. I'm sorry, Ice—for not being the person you wanted me to be."

Emil swallows and holds himself back. "Just keep going, Leon."

He continues. "I'd be shocked that you didn't know who I was. If anything, I'd be excited. I'd want to know more about you. I'd want you to know more about  _me_."

Emil's heart throbs.

"Here was a person who'd never heard of me before. I wasn't a famous actor or martial artist or pop star to you. I was just Leon Wang to you: a human being. I would follow you until I convinced you to come to a studio just once, as an excuse for us to find some time together."

Like he did at their photo shooting, Emil remembers.

"You'd finally give me your number, and I'd give you my card. I would think about you all the way back to the hotel I ran away from so I could get some air. I would tell Cheng about it. Definitely. He'd be happy for me. I'd be happy.

"When the day would come for the shooting, I'd arrive there an hour early and wait. You'd be nervous when you'd first walk in. You'd give me some weird glances when I'd finally go to you, and I'm sure by then, you would've done your research on me and realized what a big deal I am."

"What a big deal, indeed," Emil comments with a slight smile.

Leon chuckles. "Yeah. And then, like, I'd teach you the basic poses and angles. After that, we'd just hang out and talk about our lives, and just like that, we'd be friends, Ice."

"Just like that…" he echoes. "That would be nice. Even if we were never supposed to meet." He can almost laugh. "And if things were different, maybe Lukas wouldn't mind you being my friend even as a celebrity."

"Maybe," Leon acknowledges. "And I wouldn't have to sneak out to celebrate my birthday with you."

Emil scratches his head. "You're still thinking about coming here?"

"I said I would. I want a nice, quiet birthday, Ice. I don't need anything fancy or bright. It's always the same boring thing each year."

"But what about your family, Leon? I got to spend my birthday with my family. Shouldn't you spend yours with them?"

"I could," he says with some reluctance, "but they're getting busy nowadays with their own things, anyway. They wouldn't miss me for one year. It wouldn't be too bad."

"Oh. I don't know how your family works, but if my parents were still around, I know I'd want to spend my birthday with them."

"Yeah, and mine, too," Leon reminds Emil. At least Emil has some real family left, and he thinks it is best to drop the subject.

"Sorry," he apologizes.

"No, don't be. Anyway, I've got a more important thing I want to ask you about."

"What?"

"Like, does Mathias' bakery sell fruit tarts? I could  _really_ go for a large fruit tart for my birthday."


	18. XVIII

Another tray of coffee comes around. Having been used to coffee, himself, Lukas is more inclined to accept his hosts' beverages, and for manners' sake, he is sure to finish any cup poured for him while the four of them talk.

"If it's not too much trouble, may I ask how long you two have been soul mates?" Tino begins after settling down beside Berwald. Lukas takes the time to study the two of them and finds it incredible that they can be compatible for one another: Tino is a pleasantly talkative person with a jubilant smile on his face while Berwald looks like the stoic, serious type who rarely gives his input—save for when he needs to.

And yet, all the same, there is something about Tino and Berwald's connection that surpasses that of any normal friendship. It is not apparent from a first glance, but it is something Lukas used to see in his late mother and step-father, something that he thought he could never comprehend. The very reason he is here right now is to find out whether or not he really expresses that same kind of something towards Mathias, as well as whether or not Mathias expresses it towards him.

"Our watches stopped almost seventeen years ago." While Lukas speaks, his hands are folded, and he makes little eye contact with anyone save for Mathias, trying to see if his eyes give off any peculiar looks.

Tino expression is noticeable in any case, as his round eyes light up like bulbs in their sockets. "That's a long time," he comments. "Judging by your ages, I'd say you were children when it happened."

"Ten and thirteen," Lukas clarifies.

"So you were both roughly around that age…" Tino's voice trails off. Lukas' brow forms a groove at his phrasing. "Then…let me see if I understand why you're both here: your feelings for each other aren't exactly set in stone? Or perhaps they're lost?"

Lukas does not answer. Mathias looks away, scratching the back of his neck. Given their silent responses, Tino and Berwald both look at each other before turning back to their visitors. It is not long before Tino clears his throat and tries to open them up to consultation. He chooses to try Mathias first, given that he appears to be more open to talking than his cold counterpart.

"So, Mathias, what did you think of Lukas when you first knew him?" he asks the baker.

Mathias wears a crooked smile as if he is unsure of what he wants to say; it is to the point where he appears bashful about openly talking next to his soul mate. "I thought he was cool at first. Sure, he wasn't a girl, but I thought things would work out between us, as if we could be friends for life." His eyes flash at Lukas for a moment before settling back towards Tino. "I mean, there are cases like that, right, where people can stay friends forever?"

"Of course," Tino smiles. The watchmaker silently nods in agreement.

"Then…" Mathias twists his lips and struggles to find the right words. "…Do you think that would work for soul mates, too? Maybe we don't have to be bound by, I don't know, seeing each other as…" He never finishes as his voice trails off into nothingness. Even Lukas is troubled by this; Mathias always has something to say, but what bothers him most of all is that he knew what that last word was supposed to be. He bites on his lips and closes his fingers around his arms. It hurts. Everywhere.

Sighing, Tino looks to Berwald for some advice. He understands his own soul mate is not someone who can easily express himself, but his heart and mind are in the right place to guide them along their way. As a watchmaker, such things can often come naturally when sensing the condition of one's relationship.

"Doesn't seem like you two have settled on being friends all the time," the watchmaker points out in a gruff voice. "You've been trying hard—both of you."

At that, both Mathias and Lukas look at one another in a different light, Mathias with wide eyes and Lukas riddled more with confusion.

Lukas, his lips sore from biting, speaks out before his other can. "All this time, Mathias, I thought you were just an idiot. You were always stuck in your own little world deciding how everything went. Nothing ever came hard for you. You've always had your parents, a life handed to you on a platter, and people who care for you. It didn't make sense for me to be a part of your life and definitely not as your other."

Mathias blinks. "What, so you didn't think you were good enough for me? Because I've always had the idea you deserved better."

"That's not it." His friend purses his lips. "I just didn't think that I was…" He sighs. "…the  _right_ one for you."

"B-But," Mathias stutters, "where'd you even get that mentality? Lukas, before you met me, you had a great family, and your childhood wasn't even bad. Heck, Ice cares about you still.  _I_ care about you."

"Please, stop." From across the table, Tino and Berwald can see something wrong. There is a buffering cloud surrounding Lukas, as though he is withholding himself from something. Whatever it is, it has been taking a toll on him for several years until he broke down into what he is today. It is because of this breaking point that he finally reached out before it was too late, if not for himself anymore, then at least for the other half of him, his other, Mathias.

It is also at this point that Mathias sees what has been ailing his friend. Perhaps it was that he never wanted to delve into it, that it would pass over in time or figure itself out without any effort. Or perhaps it was because he refused to acknowledge it altogether and accept that Lukas would never be anything more than a friend to him, that there would never be anything more to their relationship than what they are. And yet his chest hurts. His pulse still quickens, and his breath becomes irregular. His stomach twists in knots, and his face still grows hot. What he said to Emil the day he visited still remains true. He loves Lukas. He just does not know how far he can carry it before everything either falls apart or fades away into nothingness, and that has scared him for so long.

"Lukas…" Mathias moves from his seat and kneels at the base of Lukas' feet. He looks him straight in the eye to where his friend cannot escape, their focus locked in each other's irises. "You've always been more than a friend to me. I've been an idiot like you said. I know. But through the years and the time we've spent together, I wanted us to be something more than what we are. If this is all just a misunderstanding, please help me fix this. I'm here for you. Always."

Lukas does not know what overcomes him. It is like a floodgate cracks at its base. The pressure building up pushes against his ribcage and pours out in immense quantities and spews forth in gushes. In its entirety, it is a plethora of emotions and response, bewilderment and short flashes, embarrassment and quick breaths, frustration and convulsions. None of it can contain itself inside his thin body. It leaks through his constricted movements and squirms with microscopic expressions. For the third time in his life, he feels helpless and at a loss for words and rationality. He shakes and stirs in place like his heart pounding in his ribcage.

The watchmaker and his soul mate have left the room by the time his stability is crushed and rebuilt again and again, sometimes sturdier than before but never in the same shape. It takes a long time for him to gather himself together, to realize how cold and distant he has been all this time, and to feel such warmth coming from such a big heart. He has never enjoyed Mathias' hugs, but this time, he has never felt in need of one more than now.

Both of them are shaky. The exchange is awkward at best. Neither of them feels comfortable or familiar with these kinds of emotions or gestures. Either it feels too constrained or too forced. From this proximity, Lukas can detect little particles of flour tickling his nose that almost mask Mathias' homely scent. What he remembers most of all is the warmth, just one large bundle of inviting sensations that make him relish in the moment, and in such an instant, it is as though time has stopped. He shuts his eyes and breathes. Beneath organic matter, he hears a heart beating. How remarkably human such a raw emotion can be.

"We'll take it slow." Mathias murmurs into Lukas' ear with a tender voice filled to the brim with relief and caress. "I promise you, Lukas: I'm going to fix things between us."

He smiles, the gesture once so foreign to him once upon a time ago. "You'll screw things up. I'll help you."

"Yeah." Mathias laughs and tightens his arms around him. "Thank you, Lukas."

* * *

Emil feels something different in the air. What used to be capped and muddled feels fresh and breathable. He feels lighter simply walking around the space between his brother and friend. Something happened in that cottage that was not meant for his eyes and ears, though, perhaps for everyone's sake, it was better that he remained unknowing. It may be that he is not ready for that moment yet. His new phone weighs in his pocket as he waits for his turn.

* * *

Two weeks have passed since Emil last saw Leon's face. Today is Leon's birthday. Emil can easily see it over the web feed or through broadcasting, yet it does not feel the same as seeing him in person. There is a different side to him that comes through beyond the screen; beyond that, there is a person who is as normal as any other human being, and that person is who Leon wants Emil to see him as.

Wafts of potatoes, smoked meats, butter, and fresh bread roll into a hungering scent that irritates the trio gathered at the table. It is a pitiful sight: two brothers and one baker leaning back on their chairs waiting for the fourth and final guest to arrive. It is as if even after paying a visit to the watchmaker's cottage, nothing has changed at all. One checks the time occasionally and does not report any news to the others. With traditional clocks being out of style, there is only silence in the room, save for the soft humming of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Sometimes, someone will sniff, and it sounds like a foghorn in the house. Emil folds his hands over and over again until he fears they are pink and sore. Lukas bites his lips, making a slight crunching noise every now and then. Mathias is an awkward mess of nerves and fidgeting.

After one hour, Lukas slams his hands on the table, startling his fairy out of the room. "He's late," he growls. "Why are we doing this, again?" It is understandable he is the most impatient one of all. He was working the entire day only to come home to prepare for the meal. In his own head, he is surprised he even went along with the proposal of hosting the party; it is easier for Leon to celebrate his birthday in Volt and conventional on far more levels than paying his brother a visit.

"Aw, c'mon, lay off, Lukas!" Mathias tries to butt in. "I'm sure he got caught in traffic or something like that."

"He's never this late when trying to meet up with Ice," the ominous figure in the room spits. "What's keeping him?" He looks to his brother. "Ice, do you have anything on his whereabouts?"

Emil checks his phone. The new messages box is empty. There have been no messages since two days ago when Leon promised he would arrive promptly in the evening after finishing up with shooting. He did mention a one-hour time gap, but it has been well over two hours. The food, having gotten cold, sits like piles of appealing garbage waiting to be recycled into nutrients for plants. Emil is starving. Everyone is. Since sitting down and waiting, their stomachs angrily growled until they, too, fell silent. Frankly, no one is willing to wait longer for their guest. It may be that the whole thing was a joke and Leon will simply not show up. There is that option, too.

"Stomach's caving in…" Mathias whines and rolls his head around the table. Lukas barks at him to stop making the table dirty, but his tone is not as sharp as it was two hours ago. Even his energy is starting to deplete until he can no longer poke direct remarks at the baker.

"Leon, where  _are_  you?" Emil mutters and sends out another text. He can understand why Leon is being held up, but he at least hoped his friend would tell him he would be late before decided to cook a large meal. It hurts the three even more because they find it rude to start without the birthday guest.

Lukas takes a piece of now cold bread and begins to eat. Everyone else has already done so in the case that they fast for too long. Leon will not miss half the basket of rolls, they all decided. "If he's a no-show, then this is the last time I'm doing something like this again, Ice."

Emil sighs and clicks his phone off after sending another message. Is this what it feels like to be stood-up, he wonders? Mathias and Lukas have never dated before, so they cannot offer any advice as to what to do or how to feel. Even when they are here with him, he still has to proceed through his emotional roller coaster alone.

Ten more minutes go by. They transition into twenty and then to thirty. It is only then when Lukas suggests turning on the video feed out on a whim. Emil, thinking it odd for him to suddenly suggest that sort of thing, pulls up a screen and displays it above his seat for Lukas and Mathias to see.

"… _police are still hard at work looking for him. Back to headquarters."_

" _I don't understand. He was right here on stage with the rest of the group, and after the finale, he just…disappeared."_

" _Reports say after teenage-hit celebrity Leon Wang vanished without a trace, just seconds after the final song of his birthday concert. Police authorities and surveillance cameras have yet to find any clues to his whereabouts. The mayor of Holo as well as the head of Wang Studio are urging citizens to contact the police if they have any clues or information of Leon Wang's location."_

" _Thank you for that public announcement. And now, in relation to music and celebrity news, Altorienese actor and pop sensation Im Yong Soo was reported to be causing a scene in a restaurant in Volt about how egg pasta originated from Altorien—"_

Emil shuts the screen off and leans back in his chair. He does not know how to feel about all of this. He suspects his disappearance has something to do with trying to escape Volt, but for him to cause a public scene about it makes him feel guilty for inviting Leon over. It feels like so much trouble to make him escape his concert just to have a meal that is most likely cold.

"Ah, so he ditched after the concert," Lukas notes as he takes another piece of bread. "If he's on the run, it might take him a while to get here."

"That's terrible!" Mathias gasps. "What if he got kidnapped? Ice, we should help look for him!" He flinches when Lukas throws a wadded napkin at his forehead.

"You idiot. Don't you understand what this means? Leon had a concert tonight, and he escaped so he could come here." He sighs and crosses his arms. "But I think that'd be typical of him."

Emil clutches his phone and looks down at the blank screen, befuddled. "I don't get it. Why is it so hard for him to tell us he's going to be late? I get a few minutes, but almost three hours and a _concert?_ "

Lukas shrugs. "Perhaps he didn't expect it, either. How many parents do you know who force their child to sing a concert on their birthday? If you ask me, it would make more sense for someone to host a concert in their honor."

"Yeah…" He sighs. "I feel awful."

"Maybe it's because you're hungry."

"Ha ha," Emil sarcastically laughs. "Very funny, Brother." But he takes another slice of bread and snags a piece of smoked and spiced meat nonetheless. Upon doing so, the three suddenly hear a loud knock at their door so abruptly, that Emil nearly drops his food.

"Crap!" he gasps as he knocks it onto his plate. "That's Leon, isn't it?"

"About time," Lukas emotionlessly comments and goes to answer the door. While he goes to see who it is, Emil turns to Mathias.

"Mathias, how do I look?" he asks and stops. "Oh, wait. Why am I asking you?"

"You look great, Ice!" he beams and throws his thumb up. Emil's eyes narrow.

"You look like you always do," Lukas says before checking the screen. He pauses for a moment and then unlocks the door. Emil holds his breath, as do the rest of the house when he sees who it is.

"L-Lien?"

The secretary, while prim in appearance, has a shortness of breath as though she has been running around in her stuffy clothes. "It's you," she breathes, staring at Lukas. The two exchange odd looks for a brief moment, making Emil wonder what sort of relationship they might have. Mathias is completely lost.

Lien quickly gathers herself together and leans over Lukas' shoulder to where Emil is. "I'm sorry for bothering you so late, Ice, but is Leon here?"

"No. We just saw the news. He ditched his concert, right?"

Leon's cousin exhales and lowers her head. "That was an hour ago," she miserably pants. "They didn't want to release that information until they were sure they couldn't find him. Please, if you hear anything, would you give the studio a call? No one can get a hold of Leon, and Yao's worried about him." She gives Lukas a quick look. "You're sure he's not here?"

"Positive," Lukas says. "If that's all you wanted to ask about, please excuse us. We were just about to eat dinner."

"Hey!" Mathias bursts out, nearly making Emil and Lukas jump. "Are ya hungry? It looks like you could use something to eat!"

"Mathias!" Emil hisses at him.

Fortunately, it does not appear Lien is in the mood for idle dining and chitchat. "Thank you, but I have to be going. There's a lot for me to sort out back at the studio. Again, thank you. Let me know if you hear from Leon, Emil. And Lukas. Good night." She bows and quickly turns to leave. From over her shoulder, Lukas can finally see the black vehicle she drove here in. She must have only visited them personally as a last resort, though it disturbs him at how she knows where they live.

"That was weird," Mathias says once Lukas locks the door. "Who was that, Lukas? Looks like you two've got some history together."

"Just someone I encountered at the studio," he says as he sits back down and takes a sip of water. He then raises an eyebrow at Emil. "She knows you, Ice. When did  _you_ meet her?"

"I…" Emil hesitates. He first met Lien when she and Kasem "kidnapped" him. He has still not told anyone else of that incident, nor does he plan to any time soon. "I sort of met her during our first outing."

"Date, you mean," Lukas teases him and successfully gets his brother to feel flustered.

"N-No. Just an outing," he insists. "She was there when I met Leon at the train station. That was all."

"Oh? Well, I suppose she's getting desperate if she personally came to visit us with her being an important figure in Wang Studio," Lukas deduces. "Your other's been causing us quite a bit of trouble, hasn't he?"

Emil sighs and scoots back from the table. "I'm going to my room," he announces.

"Eh?" Mathias blinks. "Why?"

"If Leon's really not coming, then I might as well take a shower. And if he does, then you can just tell him I'm in the bathroom."

"Yer not gonna eat?"

"No. Why? It's rude to eat before our guests, even if we did eat a little. And if he never shows up, then I can just eat before bed."

Lukas rolls his eyes. "That's not healthy, Ice." But his brother is already heading up the stairs.

When he arrives in his room, Emil throws himself on his bed and lets out a sigh. He really thought Leon would show up for his birthday. The guy was talking about it for some time back on their last outing. For him to back down on his word feels out of place for him even after lying and manipulating him for so long. At the very least, he would have expected Leon to tell him he would not show up. A simple message would have been easy enough to notify him so he would not be crushed and disappointed like this.

_Sorry. Shit happened. I couldn't make it._

"Whatever," he breathes and looks out the window. His view is pathetic compared to the rest of the house. Exhausted and hungry, he shuts his eyes before preparing himself for his shower. He thinks sometime in his stupor, he heard a faint click. It is impossible for the source of the noise to be from a clock. The traditional clocks in his house were replaced ages ago after Lukas claimed they distracted him from his studies. Curious, he opens his eyes to see where the sound came from when a large shadowy figure is standing at his window.

"Holy—!" Startled, he jumps back and presses himself against his closet. "L-Lu…!" And he stops. The figure is tapping on his window, sure enough. Though the image is blurry with the frosted glass, he can still make out the familiar build of this character. His hair is the more prominent feature with a short cut and bangs that hang from his side. It has to be Leon.

Without another word, Emil throws the window open and sees that it is, indeed, his friend, exhausted and looking more worn out that Lien.

"Thanks," he pants and collapses straight onto the floor. His clothes do not appear to be normal. In the middle of the summer, he is wearing a large black jacket that fails to hide his shiny jeans. His shoes are more extravagant than normal, sporting large hoop laces that wrap well over his ankles like hovering anklets. Appearances aside, Emil can smell the salty and stale sweat on his body. Leon must have been running away from something for a long period of time—that or he just returned from an intense workout program.

"Ice…" the celebrity breathes with raspy succession. "…you got anything to eat?"

"Plenty." Emil cannot help smiling. Even though he has several questions for his friend, he knows Leon has been through so much in these past couple of hours. He takes it slow and casual, just the way Leon plays things out. "We've been waiting for you. Um, but maybe you should take a shower first. You sort of...how do I put it…? You smell."

"That? Yeah, it was crazy getting outta there." He manages to stand up and take his black jacket off. Underneath is a shiny vest and an even shiner set of muscles that glimmer from sweat and whatever fluids his studio applied to his skin. Emil has never seen Leon shirtless before, and for that matter, he has never seen anyone as toned as him; there is Mathias, but Mathias has a different set of muscles than Leon. Where Mathias developed through labor, Leon developed through years of training and workout regimes. He looks… _attractive,_ for a lack of a better word _._

Of course, Leon notices his friend staring. "What? You like what you see?"

"U-Uh, I…" Emil tries to think of an excuse. "I-I've never seen that kind of shine before. That's really not sweat, is it?"

"Oh. Nope, it's body oil. It looks better onstage with the lights and everything."

Emil furrows his eyebrows. "Is this your stage outfit?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's just weird seeing you like this. You give off this different vibe." He shakes his head. "I know that sounds weird, but that's what I'm getting from this."

Leon chuckles. "No, you're right. Being an idol and being a person are two different things." He takes his vest off and sighs with what sounds like relief. "That damn thing was so itchy. You don't mind holding onto these things for me, do you? I'd toss them, but they're worth a few thousand heta."

"Um…no?" he doubtfully says and folds the vest and jacket into a sloppy bundle.

"Thanks." And then, right in front of Emil's eyes, he strips off his pants, boxers, and all. Emil screams.

"Put some clothes on! You're crazy! This isn't a bathhouse, Leon!"

But his friend just laughs. "What? You should be glad you get to see me naked, Ice. Lots of girls would."

"I'm not a girl!" he cries. "Get in the bathroom!" In a desperate attempt to block himself from the view, he pulls Leon's jacket over his eyes; it reeks of sweat, but it is better than tainting his eyes for good. As his ill luck will have it, Lukas goes up to check on his brother right as Leon goes down the hall to find the bathroom.

"Ice? I heard screaming. Is everything alri—" His voice stops there.

"Hey, Lukas," Leon shortly waves to him. "Where's the bathroom?"

"…Down two doors," he flatly says. Leon thanks him and goes on his way. When he hears the door close, he goes to check on his scarred brother. "Ice? Everything alright in here?" From what he sees in his room (the open window, the bundle of clothes, and the wreck that is his brother), he can get a rough picture of what caused his brother to scream earlier.

"If you want, I can wash those for you," he offers and wrinkles his nose. "They smell." Emil eagerly hands him the bundle and requests that he shower in the master bathroom. "Go right ahead. No one's stopping you."

"Thanks," he mutters and slips through his brother into his parents' room, leaving Lukas to stare questionably at the shiny vest and pants.

"He really was at a concert," he smirks and heads to the laundry room.

* * *

Emil finishes his shower first and quickly retreats into his bedroom to change before Leon can pry around or make another scene. He wonders what sort of change of clothes he can give to someone as flashy as Leon. While never seeing him don anything like his stage clothes before, Emil notices how fashionable his friend can make even the plainest of clothes look. He grimaces as he comes to the realization that this might be what it is like to have the esteemed and elusive "miracle-body" kind of look where everything someone wears works.

Then again, he does not want to disappoint his friend on his birthday, but after searching through his closet, he gives up after looking at the colors. Everything is a dull gray, blue, or various shades of black and everything in between what can only be described as muggy and depressing. He never gave it too much thought before as to what sort of colors he preferred, though probably some time along the way, he decided these colors made him appear less noticeable to curious eyes.

He eventually settles on a loose black shirt that he always thought was a little too big for him anyway. Leon is more built than he is, but that does not make him any stockier; it should be the most appropriate fit unless the celebrity has an uncanny affinity for washed blue tones. Soon after he takes it out of his closet, he hears Leon's voice from outside the door.

"Ice, let me in!"

Emil stops. The mental gears whir in his head as he thinks of what is waiting for him outside. Lukas took Leon's clothes. Leon just took a shower. He does not have a new change of clothes. He is naked—again.

Cheeks pink and breath steaming, Emil shouts behind his only means of barring his friend away. "Go back in the bathroom, Leon! I'll give you your clothes!"

When Leon replies, he sounds genuinely confused as if such a practice is foreign where he lives. "You can just let me in, can't you? We're both adults, here."

He is right. With Leon officially turning twenty years old, they are both considered legal adults in Eliatha. Even so, that does not mean he has to traumatize himself any further. There is no doubt Leon will tease him the moment he steps inside, so Emil sets his mind on being firm about staying inside his room.

"I'm not giving you your clothes until you go back into the bathroom!" he shouts.

"Why?" Leon laughs. "You can just give them to me right here, and I can, like, change in the hallway."

Emil nearly snorts. "If I do that, you're just going to let yourself inside. I know you're stronger than me." He hears his friend sighing from the outside.

"C'mon, Ice. I'm not going to do that in your house."

"If you want, you can wait until my brother finishes washing your stupid flashy clothes!"

" _What?_ "

Now that is a surprise. Emil did not think that suggesting he wear his itchy stage outfit would bother Leon so much. He feels a small sense of confidence growing inside him, knowing that he finally said something that made the snide celebrity sound baffled. He must really dislike wearing his performing attire, he thinks.

"Ice—" Leon pauses from the outside. "Are you saying my clothes aren't in there?"

Emil frowns. "Yeah, your clothes are. I'm going to give you a new change of clothes when you  _go back into the bathroom_."

"No, that's not what I meant!" He hears Leon curse. "Ice, where's my stage outfit? It's in there, isn't it?"

"No. My brother's washing it."

And just like that, the hallway outside explodes into a clamor of footsteps and verbal swears in what Emil can only presume to be Jiang. Curious, he moves to the door and tries to listen for any signs of Leon, but what he hears is not what he expects. Instead of the bathroom door closing as he thought it would, he hears what sounds like Mathias making some sort of verbal outburst and Leon shouting something at Lukas. Minutes pass, and moments later, Emil hears banging on his door.

"Ice, give me your clothes!" It is Leon, and at this point, it does not sound like he is in the mood to joke or come bursting inside like an insensitive brat.

"Alright, fine," he sighs and opens the door a crack. Before he can even stick his arm all the way out, Leon snatches the clothes from his hand and disappears down the hallway, making a large amount of noise while doing so. Leon comes back not too long after, and tells him he finished changing.

"Ice, let me in." He sounds as if he is panting. "I'm clothed. Honest."

Emil opens the door, and sure enough, he is telling the truth. The shirt he gave Leon fits appropriately well, much better than when he last wore it; it even compliments the muggy gray sweatpants he has on loan.

"You look…" He cannot help smirking. "… _plain._ "

Leon looks up with his face appearing unusually stern. "Yeah? Well, this is what you gave me, isn't it? You expect me to complain or something?"

Flustered at his blatant questions, Emil finds himself feeling rather apologetic for the guy. After all, Leon did ditch the last portion of his own concert just to be here. He does not need all of the negative attention. "I-I'm sorry, Leon," he apologizes. "I'm just used to seeing you wear, I don't know, designer kind of things?"

"Oh." Leon looks away and combs his wet hair with his fingers. Without styling his hair, he still has a captivating look about him that says "mysterious and suave." It makes Emil wonder if he has ever made a cameo in hair-styling or body wash commercials. "Ah, listen. Ice?"

"Hmm?"

Leon brushes his hair from his eyes and blows away stray strands with his lips. "That vest and pants I was wearing…they weren't supposed to be washed." Emil furrows his eyebrows. "They had Braginsky crystals embedded in the fabric, and  _not_ that cheap-ass stuff you find in the run-down jewelry stores. I'm talking about the real things. If you wash them, not only will you destroy the clothes, but—"

" _Ahhhh!"_

"As I thought," Leon flatly sighs, covering his face with his hand. Without finishing his last sentence, he turns on his heel and trudges down the stairs. Emil follows, curious as to what exactly happened below. When he makes it to the first floor, he notices the strange smell and sounds emitting from the laundry room. Lukas is inside, staring maliciously at the washing machine while Mathias' eyes are as large as eggs. Leon, meanwhile, looks as though he expected something like this would happen.

"Shit. This is what happens when you wash Braginsky crystals." He clicks his tongue. "They destroy your washer and dryer as well as my clothes. They cost a fortune."

Emil barely catches it, but he just manages to notice his brother's eye twitching, something he only does when he is at his limits with Mathias. "To us, this  _washer_ cost us a fortune."

"Sorry," Leon apologizes. "I'll buy you a new one."

"I don't need your pity money," Lukas spits, but Emil knows full well that he would appreciate having a brand new washer at no cost. He sighs as his brother's pride kicks in just as Mathias comes to assess the situation.

"Oh, damn. What happened here?" He most past Lukas to the laundry room that has since flooded with water and tiny glimmering objects that look like shiny sand particles. The washer, itself, does not appear to be sabotaged or beyond repair, but from the whirring noises and odd smells, one can easily tell that its condition is far from perfect. Everyone waits while he examines the washer from the inside. It sounds as if the motor is still trying to whir despite having hundreds of tiny crystals jammed into its fine gears and belts. Quickly, Mathias pushes back the washer and unplugs it from its outlet, also taking care to switch off the water valves connected.

"Yeesh. Lukas, buddy, I think it's done for."

Lukas sarcastically remarks, "You think so, genius?"

"Really, I'm sorry," Leon apologizes again. "I didn't think you'd be stu—uh, just, I didn't, like, think you'd try washing those. Those clothes were three hundred thousand heta. My old man's gonna kill me if he finds out what happened—not that he's going to."

Emil raises an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"Because he just signs off on the bills for the equipment." Leon pauses to yawn after what could have only been a long birthday for him. "It's likely he didn't even watch the concert, you know. He just sees them as cashing events nowadays."

"Oh." Emil decides to change the subject to get everyone distracted from the flooded laundry room. "Um, so, are you hungry?"

"Starving," his friend grins. "So you guys really cooked for me? And not too strong in flavor, I hope."

"Not too strong." Emil thinks back to the time his brother sabotaged their guest's potatoes. "Don't worry. I sampled everything ahead of time just in case." He leads Leon back to the dining area where the food is still sitting on the table from nearly three hours ago now. The food, however, is cold at this point and needs reheating, but before Emil can tell Leon anything of the sort, his guest hops into his chair, thanks everyone for the meal, and begins to help himself to the various selections without a second's thought.

"Um…" Emil starts but silences himself when he sees just how hungry his friend actually is. He starts to wonder just how long ago the celebrity ate before coming over to his house. All the while, Lukas and Mathias are cleaning up the laundry room and trying to salvaged as many of the Braginsky crystals they can pick out of the crevices. It is not long before they all realize how hungry they are and rejoin the friends at the dining table and help themselves after Leon fills his plate.

"H-How is it?" Emil asks his guest as he is eating.

"Mmrph. Ith goo', Ice." Judging by the muffled noises between mouthfuls of potatoes, Emil assumes the food is good despite being cold.

"Glad you like it," he weakly smiles, watching in awe and amazement as his friend scarfs bread and meat down his stomach like a machine on automatic consumption. How he can stomach plate after plate without stopping is astounding, and Emil has not even finished his first plate of food.

The scene continues for another half an hour before Leon's pacing slows to a gradual halt. One part of Emil is almost disturbed at the rate of food being eaten while another part of him knows there will not be any leftovers for the following days, something his brother is fine with.

"You sure seemed to like it," Lukas comments as he clears the table with Mathias.

"I was starving," Leon smirks and wipes his mouth with a napkin. "They always make me do this stupid fasting crap, like, ten hours before a performance, so I don't get cramped up when dancing or singing."

"Seriously?" Emil furrows his eyebrows. "That sounds messed up."

Leon agrees. "It is, but, like, I'd always get treated to a huge feast afterwards." He shrugs. "It's just that this time around, the feast took a little longer to come since, you know, I had to sneak out and everything."

Lukas has his arms crossed while he looks at their guest from across the table. "Speaking of which, does anyone know you're here? Anyone at all?"

"No one."

Emil finds that odd, considering how his friend often talks about Cheng. He would have thought that Cheng would know he decided to sneak out on his birthday. "Really? No one?"

"No one," Leon repeats. "Just you guys. And can you keep it that way? I don't want anymore attention tonight."

"Nor do we," Lukas yawns. "It's bad enough being your hosts. The media can easily think we're kidnappers."

The celebrity apologetically waves his hand with a humble smile, a look Emil is not sure he naturally or normally pulls off. He wonders if being polite is part of his Jiang culture or just a practice of his acting career. "If something goes wrong, I'll take care of it. And you don't have to worry about being good hosts. I'm not that picky."

"Sure, you aren't." Emil does not need to be an expert to know that is sarcasm coming out of his brother's mouth. "And I'm not concerned about you being my brother's friend."

"Really?" Leon humors him as he pours himself a glass of water. "That's great. Then maybe you won't mind if he hangs out with me next week."

"What?" Emil and Lukas both say at the same time.

"Ice, you didn't hear? Hipster Pink's coming to do photo shoots in Holo. Anyone who's someone is gonna be there. It'll be fun if you can go."

Emil narrows his eyes, recalling what happened the last time something like this came up. He hopes Leon will not say anything out of line in case Lukas finds out about his informal abduction. The last thing that needs to happen is his brother finding out during this late-night birthday celebration. "What if I say no?"

His friend shrugs. "Your loss. It's not like you're doing anything else this summer, are you? I may not go to some fancy university, but I'm working full-time. Maybe if you were around, my work would feel a little like an actual vacation."

He cannot help but feel skeptical. Something nags at him from the inside of his gut that tells him Leon just wants to use this as an excuse for something, but he cannot comprehend what sort of excuse his presence would create. Furthermore, he does not understand why he would go other than to keep Leon company. He knows close to nothing about name brands or their fashion designers' tastes, let along how to interact with them. It will most likely turn into one long, awkward introduction sequence with Leon as the people person and Emil as the wallflower.

"No, thank you," he declines. "It was nice of you to ask, but I guess I'm not into that kind of thing." He chews his bottom lip and looks away from his friend, hoping he does not bring up his modeling contract up in front of Lukas and Mathias. He fears he will never see sunlight again if he does.

But to Leon's credit, he appears to know when to back down. "Alright. That's okay. I'll just call up the manager and tell him you can't make i—"

"Mathias made you a fruit tart," Emil hastily butts in. "He spent all day making it himself. We all did. Eat it while you still have stomach because we don't want it wasting away in the fridge."

This distracts Leon just enough. He sits up and drops the entire modeling thing, eager to see what sort of substituted birthday cake his friend made for him. Emil offers to get it out of the fridge to avoid having to face his brother's staring eyes. The fruit tart, while not requiring as much baking as other orders Mathias' family has made, is considered one of their finest works. Every fruit was hand-picked straight from the farmers' market, each piece was carefully placed with Emil's and Lukas' help, and to top it all off, the crust and custard were hand-mixed and arranged, no machinery used. Emil cannot understand why Leon requested a fruit tart of all things, but he supposes it is a refreshing change from all the cakes he has eaten for his own birthday.

"It looks nice," Leon smiles when his friend places the fruit tart in the center. "Thank you all for doing this, you guys. I know I made you worry and stay up for me. I'm sorry about that."

"Hey, any friend of Ice is a friend of ours, kid!" Mathias grins. "Oh, but I guess you're technically not a kid anymore, are ya?"

"No, I suppose not," Leon laughs. Meanwhile, Emil grumbles something about how it would be awkward for his friends to be friends with Mathias and Lukas considering Leon is his first real friend. "Um, we don't have to sing or anything. Something tells me you're not the singing type."

"Absolutely," Lukas scoffs, covering his mouth with his hands. Emil looks away.

"Then, yeah. Let's eat this and call it a night." Leon is more than happy to make the first cut, careful not to spill any of the glaze and berries stacked on the edges of the tart. Everyone watches him as he slides the first slice onto his plate and takes the first bite, trying to get as many fruits as possible onto his fork. It is as if the entire house is holding his breath while he eats, and Leon notices this.

"What's wrong? It's good, like I thought it'd be."

Mathias appears to be smiling wider than normal, though by any normal person's standards, his ordinary smile surpass the usual expressions. "Glad you like it, Leon!"

"Yeah. Thank you for making this." He takes another bite while the rest of them help themselves to the remaining fruit tart. Emil has to admit, upon taking his first bite, it really can be considered one of Mathias' more better works—not to say that his baking skills are subpar. He wondered why Leon chose a fruit tart above all the other cakes Mathias could have made him, but now he knows: this, like the rest of his twentieth birthday, is completely different. He has a small idea of what Leon's past birthday celebrations have been like, and seeing him here spending time with him and his family feels more homely and intimate. Considering he was willing to miss spending his birthday with his family loosely tells him something about their relationship, too.

"Lukas, how are ya liking it?" Mathias continues to smile. His lips have not relaxed since getting the compliment from Leon.

"It's good," is all he says and all he needs to say. Emil worries about Mathias' jaw.

By the time they finish the fruit tart, it is almost past midnight. Lukas and Mathias remain downstairs to clean up while Leon follows Emil to his room to talk.

"Happy birthday, Leon," Emil mumbles. "I thought I'd say that properly before, you know, midnight comes and everything."

"It's still my birthday in other parts of the world, Ice," Leon chuckles. "But thank you. It was nice being able to do something different this year. So, did you get me anything?"

Emil scrunches his lips and looks sheepishly away. "I thought treating you would be enough. I don't know what you want." He pouts. "Anything I'd get you would just be something you can easily buy on your own."

"Hey, it's the thought that counts," his friend mentions, "but I guess you're right. I didn't tell you what I wanted—or did I?"

"You didn't. I don't remember."

"Ice, you're in contract with my old man's studio, remember? You can't just back down and say no. Your face is already on magazines. That'd be a pretty cool birthday present."

"That again…" he sighs. He can only feel so lucky that his brother and the Køhlers do not read fashion magazines. "Leon, I already said 'No' in front of Lukas and Mathias. I can't just change my mind like that, even if it is a birthday present for you."

"So you're gonna be like that, huh?" Leon sighs. "Fine. I guess you don't want to hang out with me, after all."

Emil throws him a frustrated look. "Will you quit doing that? I hate it when you do that."

Leon stares at him. "Do what?"

"That—that  _thing!_ It's weird how you can bring something up and drop it so fast. If you're going to say something, stick by it! And I hate it when I get caught up in these indecisions. It's annoying." He lets out a deep sigh. "Leon, I'm happy you came here today. Really, I am. But sometimes—no, all of the time, I feel like I don't know what you want. When you go hopping around things like it's nothing, I just…I get confused. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want to know you, Leon. The real you. I said that before, didn't I? Before we went to Trip…" He wraps his legs close to his chest and huddles against the wall by his bed. Leon lies down and stares at the non-animated ceiling without any pictures to distract him.

"You know, before I met you, Ice, I thought when I'd meet my soul mate that we'd spend our birthdays like this all of the time. No fancy concerts, no more press chasing me, no huge feast, just hanging out with someone I'd like being around and talking to." He stretches and rolls to face Emil. "And, it was a long-shot, but I thought if you were a girl, then I'd be able to ditch the bachelor act for good."

"How?" Emil asks.

"Like, if you were a girl, we'd probably click right away, wouldn't we? Or if I was a girl, but either way, it wouldn't be like this. If I wasn't single anymore, then I wouldn't have such a strong following, and maybe my old man would ease up on the whole selling my image and face kind of deal." He stops and yawns. It is understandable after eating such a large meal. "It's not a bad thing that we're both guys, don't get me wrong; it's just different. Even though it's been a thing for hundreds of years, not everyone's used to different."

"Yeah…" Emil can agree with him there.

Leon softly smiles. "After some time, I realized the harder I fight back, the more my old man does. It was easier if I just let him do his thing, so I could do mine, but the only way I could spend time with you was if you were already in the same…I don't know…the same clique as me."

It makes more sense now, Emil realizes. That is why Leon wanted him to become a model, so that he could have a valid reason to be tagging along, and not as some inconspicuous friend. As for all of the times he managed to go out of his way for him, how many times did he have to cut their outings short because of his work? Emil feels sick for thinking of Leon the way he did. It was never about him—it was about the two of them and the time they spent together.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Hmm? Sorry for what?"

"Everything, Leon. About doubting you, for getting angry at you, and just all the stupid things I've said. I guess it's because my brother told me to watch out for you, but I've always thought you were doing things for yourself, like I was some kind of accessory or toy that came with your watch." He weakly laughs. "I sound stupid, don't I?"

Leon shakes his head. "No. I think that way about a lot of people. It comes with being someone with a name and reputation to keep. But you're different to me, Ice. You're my soul mate."

With the only light coming from the outside, Emil is grateful to be in the dark. He does not know if the color is visible on his cheeks, but he hopes Leon cannot see how flustered he is, watching his friend staring at him like this. A small sense of him feels privileged to have someone as desired and famous as Leon Wang talking to him in this way. It feels nice being able to feel treated this way, if not unfamiliar to him.

"Um, Leon…" He attempts to think of something else to say so his mind will distract itself from his fluttering heart and stomach. "A-Are you going back to Volt tonight?"

"Nope. Don't feel like going back tonight. I'll worry about my old man chewing my ass out tomorrow. Plus I still have to take care of getting you a new washer."

"And what makes you think my brother will just let you stay over?"

"Ice, you have a living room, don't you? I can just stay there."

"Oh." Emil is unused to the notion of having visitors staying overnight. Even Mathias who has been a family friend for many years rarely stays over; normally he walks home to his family's bakery so he can finish preparations. "I guess if my brother's fine with it, then I'll be fine." He lets out his breath and looks at his clock. "Your birthday's almost over. Just three more minutes."

"That's it? Guess my special day's almost up."

Emil stares at him. "You sure you're fine I didn't get you anything? You gave me a phone…"

"Nah, I'm good." Leon sits up and aligns himself next to his friend. "We can just sit here until midnight comes. Three minutes isn't gonna kill me. It's not the end of the world if you didn't get me anything."

"I suppose not. This is fine."

From here, Emil can smell the soap Leon used when showering. It seems different. Though they use the same soap, the celebrity has a slightly sharper scent to him like cologne. He is not sure he has ever smelled this scent before, but it feels nostalgic to him. Combined with the late hours and graced silence, he finds his thoughts mudding into a churning blur. Before long, their eyes are locked in one another's, gold against lavender, soul mate to soul mate.

He does not know what overcomes him in this exact instance. Something pulls on him and forces him closer as if like a magnet that he cannot escape. With his thoughts mulling over, his eyelids grow heavy, and his actions do not become his own. It practically feels like instinct. Leon feels the same way. The moment is perfect.

Three minutes. One hundred eighty seconds and counting down. With each second, it feels like an hour in slow-motion. Things become clear in that short instance of time. He can see things he never thought there. The defined jawline past Leon's bangs appears more cut and rigid than his smooth curves. His bangs tuck neatly behind his ears and sweep in dark waterfalls from showering, bringing out his scent with every inching period. He likes the way his lips part so slightly when he has a neutral expression and how his eyes have flecks of gold and slight shades of earthy browns. His skin has no flaws; it is as creamy as a baby's with just the right amount of cream and olive to match his Jiang origins. As he thought before, on their first meeting, he cannot deny his perfection.

The seconds are lost to his memory. He does not think. Once or twice his stomach twists and his heartbeat hammers in his ears, but everything else is lost on him. He no longer breathes. As the day comes to a close, so, too, do they, up until their heat melts into one singular connection. There are many things he feels in that instance, all things he kept bottled up until now, things he never thought he could ever feel towards another person. It feels like falling, hoping somewhere below, someone will catch him, a dangerous experience that can cripple him, so incredibly wrong—yet here, as the clock strikes midnight, sitting together like this, with no one but themselves existing in their intertwined worlds, it feels undeniable, so immaculate, so right.


	19. XIX

Emil has never seen a real butterfly before. The closest things he has seen are old recordings from the days long past, back before the giant filtration systems were first erected and before the rising sea levels swallowed the lesser islands. He has always found them fascinating. How is it that something so small and fragile, with wings whose scales are not even visible to the naked eye, can overcome gravity? How their wings create an unpredictable pattern that is both light and compelling at the same time is something he can never experience, but here at this moment, he feels that, somewhere in his chest, his heart will burst into flight.

* * *

A hand pushes on his abdomen. He only feels it when it sinks deep into his diaphragm and squeezes the wind out, as if he is not breathless already. He lets him go, and they breathe. The space between them has never felt so far before.

"Too much?" Leon speaks first. He is still breathless.

"Too much," Emil repeats. He folds his knees into his chest and sinks his nose into his shirt. A rosy color dyes his cheeks with more fleshed-out tones than what Leon can say about his hair, and he finds it attractive. His heart rate having eased, he wonders if he will cross any boundaries if he reaches out to touch his soul mate. After all, Emil was the one who lured him into that moment.

"Hey…you alright, Ice?"

He does not respond immediately. There is a momentary pause before the flustered mess of blushes and fidgets can utter anything, and when he does, it comes out as a surprising "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" He does not understand. "Why are you apologizing?"

Emil does not look at him. "I-I don't know. I wasn't thinking when I—" He chokes and covers his mouth as if he just said something taboo. He leaves Leon to wait in silence until he can say something else, but again, his emotions do not translate well. "It's nothing. I'm sorry, Leon."

But this is not nothing, Leon knows. If it was nothing, he would not have apologized—twice at that. This  _is_ something. The fact that they  _kissed_  means something.

He makes a direct approach. It is not something that will get better with time. Leon wants to know what Emil is thinking. He does not know when his feelings will fade away or ever return. He needs to be hasty yet careful. "Ice, if there's something wrong with what we did, then tell me. I'm listening."

Truth be told, there is a bad taste in his mouth. The Leon Wang the studio knows is not a listening person; others take his place and guide him to where he needs to be. He is normally not one to sympathize with another's emotions, especially when it involves concerning himself, yet as much as he knows this, he feels a peculiar attraction to Emil. He certainly has some nerve to make him feel this way, what with his innocent and confused demeanor; it is like a challenge, one that Leon is not willing to lose—and Emil is the ultimate prize.

To coax him into talking, Leon moves near him, inching his way closer to his side on the bed. "Ice," he softly speaks, "I wanna hear what you have to say. It doesn't matter what it is. I'm right here." He does not reach out to him. He does not touch him. He makes his presence known with his voice and sincerity, and to his delight, it works.

"I…Mm…" Emil hesitates and keeps his face concealed. Throughout the course of speaking, he does not look Leon's way. "Leon, I didn't mean to…"

Leon is blank. "It's a kiss, Ice. It's not the end of the world if I give you one or if you give me one."

"I know that." He grunts, his hands closing around his ankles. "But I feel… _weird_  inside."

"Weird?" Leon echoes. He has to stop for a moment to process that statement. "Tell me about it."

Emil's body is still. "It's something like, I don't know if I should be the one doing this to you."

"You're not doing anything to me, Ice. Nothing, wrong, anyway."

"I am," he insists. "You came all the way from Volt just to see me. You didn't have to do that. And now the whole city thinks you're a missing person, your family's probably worried about you, and I'm just here wishing…" He sighs. "Wishing for things that may never be."

"Is that what you think?" Leon grabs onto Emil's wrist and tugs, uncovering his friend's flustered expression. He needs to see him. He has to. "Ice, look at me. Look. At. Me. If you think you're not good enough for this, then why would I come here? I didn't have to visit you. No one told me to. I  _want_ to see you. All of this today, the running, the food—heck, even the washer incident—it's been really fun. This wouldn't have happened if—no, that's not the right way to go about it. I'm just happy, Ice. I haven't truly felt that way in a long time."

With his soul mate's eyes in full view, he can see how every fleck of color on his irises really shines. Each tone of color stands out like a galaxy of lavender stars, and in the middle is his very reflection staring back. His eyes wander to his lips, thin and parted. Alone, they would lack the fullness of people on magazines, but against his pale skin, they fit him just fine. He wants to touch them again. Every little bit of Emil is desirable, and Leon wishes he would know that.

"Leon…?" Emil swallows.

"Mm-hmm?"

Emil flushes and turns briefly away. A bundle of nerves, he manages to look Leon back in the eyes and speak. "Would you…ah, this is…Would you still like me even if we weren't soul mates?"

"Yes." He cannot afford to hesitate, but of course, Emil is taken aback by how confidentially he can respond. It is too good to be true.

"H-How?" His voice trembles. "We would have never met one another if it weren't because of the watches."

"You don't know that. In another universe, sometime, somewhere, I'm sure we'd see each other. Maybe not around the same age or the same location, but we'd get to know each other from there. And I would like you all the same."

Emil makes a small jolt of movement, stunned that someone like Leon can even say that with a straight face. Even as an actor, saying that cannot be performed so easily. "You mean that?"

"I do."

He has to smile to that. It feels too genuine, too perfect. It flatters him. "I can never tell if what you're saying is true, Leon."

Leon smiles back. "Then let me show you." He inches closer to Emil and slows, waiting for the remaining gap to be closed by the other. It is a sort of granted permission, and Emil consents. As if like a moth drawn to a flame, his heart flutters in his chest like burning wings rattling in his ribcage. And so, for the second time that night, they exchange a kiss.

* * *

Lukas notices that Emil is off the next day. He is not one well-versed in sexual activities, but he knows for a fact that they did not do anything inappropriate the night of Leon's birthday. The door was open, and he and Mathias did not hear anything save for a few murmurs of voices coming from one or the other. It felt like a typical night.

Yet today during breakfast time, he knows there is something different about his brother. He does not greet him at the table; instead, he looks towards the living room after seeing the empty seat where Leon should be. It is fleeting, but Lukas almost thinks he catches something on his brother's face.

Fear, is it, he wonders? His once groggy eyes suddenly became alert and flighty like a child who lost his mother in a store. It is only until he wanders to the living room and sees an exhausted and sleeping Leon that he returns to normal, greeting Lukas and quietly sitting down to eat as he usually does.

"He's been out like a log since he fell asleep," Lukas tells him. "I checked on him thrice. He never moved."

Emil's lips crease into a disapproving and disturbed frown. "You were watching him?"

Lukas takes a sip of black coffee. His eyes are passively looking at his viewing screen for news and messages, but he manages to keep engaged with the conversation. "Just making sure he didn't sneak into your bedroom and do any suspicious activity."

Emil makes another face, this one more unappealing than the last. "Brother, he's not that kind of person."

"Sure," Lukas says as if to humor his brother. "So what were you two talking about last night?" He notices that Emil breathes a small sigh of relief, as if glad that he did not ask about whatthey  _did_ last night.

"Just stuff," he vaguely replies while spreading some strawberry preserves on bread.

"Stuff," he repeats. "Care to elaborate for me?"

Emil shrugs and bites into the corner of the crust. "Things like, what Leon plans on doing when he leaves and how we are as…" He shrugs again. "…what we are, I guess you can say."

Lukas raises an eyebrow. "And what are you two, exactly?"

"Um…"

"Morning, everyone."

"Oh, thank the gods," Emil breathes as he sees Leon joining the table. Even after sleeping longer than he did, Leon's hair frustratingly appears to be as flawless as ever. In comparison, Emil's hair never fails to have some messy kinks no matter how many times he brushes it.

"Leon, we were just talking about you," Lukas airily says when he sees their guest take a seat.

"Oh? What about?"

"Stuff," Lukas replies, eyeing his brother with a discerning glance.

"That's cool." He pauses to take a helping of bread, stacking several slices of cold cuts and eggs, never touching the cheese or potatoes. Once or twice, Emil thinks he catches his brother scowling at his pickiness, but it cannot be helped, as Leon is their guest. "Hey, so, like, last night before I went to sleep, I contacted some people over at Trip. They said they were going to give you a new washing machine and take out the old one for parts. You guys shouldn't have to wait for more than three days, they told me."

"Huh. That's good to hear," Lukas responds.

"What about the Braginsky crystals still stuck in the machine?" Emil asks.

"Oh, those." Leon clicks his tongue. "I don't think we can do anything about that. I could ask the company to salvage them if I wanted. It just might take a while. My old man shouldn't miss them."

"Of course," Lukas mutters and takes another sip from his mug.

Emil swallows hard and decides to carry to conversation on another path, if not to distract his brother, then at least from his own memories of last night. "Um, so, Leon, how'd you sleep?"

"Well, enough without your brother sneaking down to check on me," he smirks, giving a mischievous look at the oldest one in the room. "Lukas, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to kill me in my sleep." Of course, it is supposed to be a joke, but with how sarcastic both Lukas and Leon can get, Emil is not sure if they are being serious. It is a deadly and uncomfortable combination to have when sitting at the dining table together, he realizes.

"Now, why would I think of doing that?" Lukas smiles with such sincerity that it physically makes Emil's stomach turn. "If I were to kill you, it would stain the carpets."

"Lukas!" Emil growls, even when knowing his brother is joking. His twisted humor has never been something he has been used to.

"I'll stop," his brother chuckles and continues to browse the news feed. After letting the two eat, he pulls up the news feed in display mode to show them the latest broadcast. "Leon, it looks like they're starting to use the city surveillance to find you."

"Huh," the celebrity comments, unfazed. "I was wondering if they were going to resort to doing that. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet, and they're already going crazy."

Then, Lukas narrows his eyes. "You have communication devices they can use to track down your location, don't you?"

"Yeah," he says, "but I turned my main one off."

"What?" Emil starts. "But, Leon, that's dangerous. What if something really happened to you?"

"Nothing did, did it? And Cheng can still get to me on my other phone if he wants."

"Well, true, but if your whole family's worried about you, wouldn't that be harder on them? I mean, they are using the city's watch to search for you."

"Everything's fine," he casually states. "Look, if anything gets messy, I'll just leave. I'm planning to do that after I'm done eating, alright?"

Emil stares across the table. "Just like that? You're going to leave?"

Leon feels flattered that his soul mate sounds disappointed. "Even though I wanted to be here, I'm not supposed to be. I'm probably causing you and your brother a lot of stress just staying here, Ice." Lukas huffs in agreement, though he will not verbally admit it. "And it's not like it'll be a while before I see you again. I'm not forbidden." He turns to Lukas. "I'm not, am I?"

Lukas bites his lips and wrinkles his sleeve in a tightened fist. However much he wants to refute that claim, he changed when seeing Emil coming down the stairs. There was something expecting about him when looking for Leon and seeing the relief on his face when he saw he was still here. It feels lonely, the way his brother is leaning his affections towards someone else, but at the same time, he, too, cannot feel relieved that his brother is trying to understand the workings of their relationship. It is time he accepts that.

"No, you're not," he sighs. "If Emil is happy, then I suppose I am happy."

"Lukas…" Emil presses his lips together and bows his head.

Leon smiles and wipes his mouth with his napkin. "Then perhaps this is where I say thank you for your hospitality and understanding." He backs up from his seat and takes his plate to the sink. "Ice, you want to see me out?"

"Me? S-Sure," he agrees and follows him. "I'll be back in a bit, Brother."

"Sure," he responds and returns to checking his messages for any orders at his workplace.

Outside, the morning air is crisp and fresh, quite a contrast to the chaotic atmosphere of Volt right now. Leon makes a passing comment about how it would be easier to stay here until the heat dies down, but he and Emil know better.

"It was so weird eating together like that," Leon muses to himself as he stretches his arms and legs in the open air.

"It's like that every day at my house," Emil tells him. "Pretty much, anyway, but instead of you, it's usually Mathias. Before it was just the two of us, though, when our family was still together, it was much livelier."

Leon raises an eyebrow. "Really? Can't imagine the two of you being anything other than mindless zombies."

Emil's eye twitches at the comment and wonders what Lukas might say to that, but his brother is thankfully not here. "It's because when my mom was around, she'd always invite Mathias and his family over when they could. It was usually just Mathias, but that's really when things felt like a family." He sighs. "She just kept things together. Mathias was there to try filling up the gap after the accident, but, you know, it wasn't the same."

Leon hunches his shoulders, giving off a passive expression, but the sound of his voice tells otherwise. "I wouldn't know. I never knew my parents."

"Yeah…" Emil moistens his lips. "But, is this okay? Do you like this sort of thing?"

"Hrm?" his friend looks up.

"I mean, it's not lonely, is it? It's just the two of us here most of the time."

"Nope," Leon smiles. "It's more company than I ever had."

Emil cannot fathom being lonely as someone who is constantly desired by women and a role model for young men. He has seen Leon's extended family to a degree, and while they are not the most compatible of characters, they certainly are not anything bad. Since they are in such a casual setting, he feels it is harmless to ask about that.

"How can you feel lonely in Volt, Leon? I thought you had a lot of people looking after you."

His friend's expression runs blank like he touched upon a subject of serious matters. His voice is casual, yet Emil can detect an underlying weight beneath his light-hearted speech pattern. "It's just one of those things where everything is business before pleasure—not in any sensual way, but it does become the embodiment of that old saying. You should know the one: it's nothing personal; it's just business.

"My old man knew when he became my guardian that he would have to act in the place of both parents, but, I dunno, since he was also  _that_ kind of person, he thought of parenting me in different kinds of ways than most would normally go about it. Everyone around me had their own things to do, so it wasn't like they were always around to hang out with me." He lets out a sigh. "It's like he thought a family was something built upon contributions and connections, not the actual things that made it…genuine? Real?"

The more Leon continues, the harder he finds it to express his personal side. Emil remembers his friend's outbursts from before, how he mentioned not considering Yao to be his father in the slightest. The rest of his relatives may not be related to him by blood, but he wonders if the fact of that prevented them from connecting the way a normal family should. Even when their bonds become shaky, Emil and Lukas undoubtedly are brothers at the end of the day. That Leon does not have any blood relatives to know the feeling almost makes him pity the celebrity.

"Never mind," Leon cuts himself off after a while. "You don't want to hear me banter on. It's old news." He adds on at the end, "Old news is not news."

"No, I did want to hear that," Emil insists. "It was…I'm glad you told me about that. I was able to know more about you." He smiles. "Thank you for coming over, Leon."

"No problem, Ice," he smiles back. And they stand there for a time, awkwardly looking at each other and to the side in silence. It feels like forever before Leon says something again. "Um, so, this is goodbye? Until next time, then?"

Emil blinks. "When is next time?"

"Why?" Leon slyly grins. "Are you looking forward to it?"

Caught off-guard by his tone and expression, Emil feels his cheeks growing hot. It feels demeaning considering how simple he wanted this send off to be. "I-I was just wondering! I mean, you said the next time I might be able to see you was at the modeling thing, after all. Are there any times after that?"

Leon rubs the back of his neck. "I don't know, honestly. I mean, with the other acting team here, I'm going to be swamped finishing up my movie. And then I have to get ready for a tour. Yeah. I don't know, Ice. I was seriously thinking maybe you would be able to see me next week."

"Oh…" With the summer still being young, Emil can understand how busy his soul mate will be getting for the next couple of weeks, but if that is the case, then being left alone and in the dark makes him uneasy. He wants to be able to affirm things with Leon, knowing how ambiguous he can be. And if that means not being able to see him for a long time, he feels uncomfortable with that knowledge, too. Maybe it will not be too much trouble this time, he thinks. Being able to see him and getting some working experience out of attending the photo shoot does not appear to have any negative affects on him. It is essentially harmless. He has nothing better to do and no one more he wants to see.

This feeling…

He fumbles with his fingers and nervously grinds his shoes into the ground.

And this longing…

Even though Leon is standing right in front of him, he has an inner desire to be closer to him. It is as if just being able to see him is not enough.

Is this what it is like, he wonders to himself? This sensation in his heart and the shortness of his breath is what it means?

Something touches his head. "Don't worry about it, Ice. I'll think of another time to see you. Right now, I should be more worried about what I'm going to say to my family and agent. Oh, man…"

"Leon?" he cuts him short.

"Yeah?"

His heart wants to burst from his chest. It has never felt so tight before, not when sneaking into Neon, not when riding the Amp, or when hearing the life-changing news about his parents. This sort of feeling does not make him feel uneasy. It is like falling into the unknown, but he knows now. Leon will catch him.

"I'm going."

For a good moment, Leon can only stare in awe.

"I-I…" Emil fidgets. "The modeling thing…I figured it might be nice for me to learn about what you do. And you even said it was part of my contract to attend photo shoots, right? So, I thought…well, it would be good to go for you. And me. Us."

Leon is speechless. Emil is absolutely adorable. "I mean…Yeah. Wow. That's great, Ice. That's…something else."

Emil furrows his brow. "You don't sound too happy."

"No!" he cries. "I am! I just can't believe you're changing your mind all of a sudden. This is great, Ice. It'll be nice having you there."

Seeing Leon so enthusiastic like this makes Emil's spirits higher like he is contributing to his well-being. "You're alright with me being there, then? It's not like I'm anyone famous or anything…"

"No, that's totally fine, Ice," he says. "Famous people get this, like, mentality when they get too big. It's seriously annoying. Even I have that sometimes."

"Sometimes," Emil dryly echoes. "You can say that again." He exhales out of relief. "But if you're fine with it, then I'm fine."

Leon taps his arm. "Hey, I invited you, after all. I'll give you the info after I get back to Volt—that is, assuming I don't get grounded. I can't afford to send you anything until I get back."

Emil nods. "Yeah, I get that. It's fine, Leon."

He smiles. "So, like, next week, then?"

"Next week."

"Then…I'll see you around, Ice."

He is leaving. Unlike before, Emil thinks he has left something behind. There is something he wishes Leon gave him before heading out of the yard, if not physical, then at least something he can remember him by until the next time they meet. He knows what that is, but he wonders if he dares call for it.

His breath is tight when he calls out his soul mate's name another time. Leon turns back, eyes wide, as he sees him standing there, waiting. His voice is a mess. "Can you—please—just give me something to hang onto? I-I know this sounds weird, but I—Ah, I don't know why I'm asking this. F-Forget it. It was stupid to ask."

Leon is drawing blanks. He does not have anything with him save for two phones (one with batteries and one without), his wallet, and the clothes he has on loan from Emil. His clothes are the only things he can think of returning without Emil sounding so thoughtless.

"You want your clothes back, you mean?" he asks. "I'll give them back when we meet at the studio, if that's what you want. My outfit got destroyed in the washer, after all."

"N-No, not that!" Emil shakes his head a little too hard. His head is already light and dizzy from his request. Perhaps it was foolish of him to ask. He knows Leon is craftier than Mathias, but if his attention span is anything like his brother's soul mate, then the request will shoot right over his head. It was worth a shot, though, he thinks disappointingly. "Just forget about it, Leon. It was something stupid."

"Something stupid…?" Leon clicks things together. He knows now. The answer is as clear as Emil's face is beet-red, a strange contrast to his snowy hair. "You could have asked. I wouldn't have minded."

Emil is a bundle of nerves now. His eyes are looking anywhere but straight ahead, and his hands are put up in front of his chest as if they will protect him from harm. When he speaks, it comes out in stutters, only furthering the embarrassment.

"R-Really, Leon. I'm fine. You should go now. Your family's probably worri—"

Arms seize him before he finishes. His breath is lost in Leon's as he swallows his words with his lips and does not let go. Fingers tangle into his messy locks, sending shivers down from his neck to his spine. They are close, almost as close as they can be. He remembers this smell, the subtle yet sharp fragrance he always emits. He does not know if it is pleasant or unwelcoming; it is familiar to him.

But something different happens, too. Emil feels something foreign. Slippery and moist, it burrows into his mouth like a worm and glides past his lips and traces his lower row of teeth. He barely registers what it is before it snakes over his own and dances circles on its surface.

Emil does not know what to do. This hot rush…is it shame? Surprise? Passion? He faintly recalls needing passion in a relationship. The dullest kinds flicker out like a candle in the wind, yet here he feels a fire rising. He does not resist. He inadvertently participates, egging Leon on with what can be taken as both resistance and foreplay. He pushes back, though the force is not enough to tell him he wants to get away. The thought occurs to him that he might be enjoying this attention. He certainly does not verbalize any discomfort. He feels safe, happy, even. Is this what it is supposed to be like, he wonders? To love someone?

At last, Leon gives them some air. They both look heated and alert. Leon is better at hiding his shortness of breath, but it is not enough for Emil to look past it. When they take a few breaths of unshared air, Leon pulls him close again, this time resting Emil's head on his shoulder and whispering into his ear.

"How was that?" he lightly pants. "Did I get it right?"

Emil makes some unintelligible hum through closed lips. He presses onto Leon's shoulder and stays glued there, not wanting to let go of the memory or the warmth. He enjoys this. It is undeniable in his mind even if he does not want to tell Leon outright.

"…You got it," he softly mumbles. "Thank you."

"Does that mean I don't have to keep my promise anymore?" he hears Leon whisper.

"Promise?"

"About me not kissing you."

Emil grunts and hides his face deep within his soul mate's shoulder. "Y-You broke that promise thrice already."

Leon chuckles. "Actually, only two times. The first one was because you made a move first."

"That still counts," he stubbornly presses and sighs. "But, yeah. You don't have to anymore." He makes a soft noise when he feels his hair being stroked.

"That's good to hear. I'll remember that, then." And then he lets go, furthering the space between them. It is only by a few centimeters, but after feeling such warmth, it is as though they are kilometers apart. Emil has never felt so cold before.

"I really need to go, Ice," Leon says. "You're right about people worrying about me. I've overstayed my visit. But I will see you at the studio. Just wait for my call, okay?"

"O-Okay…" he mutters. The sensation of the kiss still lingers on his lips.

"Well, then." Leon kicks at the ground. "See you, then, Ice. And tell your brother I said thank you for letting me crash for the night."

"Mm, I will."

Leon is already moving out of the yard and into the streets. "Yeah. Bye, Ice."

It is like they are really a couple now, Emil thinks, almost amusingly and yet ironically. There are promises waiting for them both at the end of the day, and the moments in between cannot feel any longer and dragged on. Such an anticipation is the same sensation he felt when he first started paying attention to the numbers, back when he was still awaiting the encounter of his soul mate, of when his watch would eventually bring him to the one.

"Be careful," he calls after him as he turns. Leon stops at the last second before disappearing and looks back his way. He throws him a quick smile and waves as only someone like him can. Then, just like that, he is gone. The countdown begins again.

With nothing else to do here, Emil returns into the house, not making any contact with his brother as he walks straight to his room and buries his face in his pillow. His stomach is filled with all sorts of sensations, and his lips are tingling as though numb. As much as it felt like a dream, none of it was.

"That was real," he whispers in a muffled voice. He shuts his eyes and curls up. Given everything he experienced, amidst the butterflies and sparks, he cannot deny that a part of him wonders if this is right. It really should not be this easy. It does not feel fair for Leon to transition from being a friend to a lover with a few simple words and a kiss or two. There should have been more steps he needed to take in order to get to where he is. He should not be feeling like this.

Should he?

He tosses and turns on his mattress and ponders his predicament. Technically, it would have been shallower of him to accept Leon flat-out. Had he been a girl, things would have been different—much more different. For one thing, he may have accepted that he would come to love his soul mate, and why wait when he knew it would happen? It would have been easier to fall in love from the beginning.

Then, perhaps it was planned this way? The real Leon Wang is not the one portrayed in the interviews and big screen. He is a human being like everyone else with feelings and interests and a personality that can sometimes contradict what the media says about him. Emil would not have been given this opportunity had he fallen in love with the fake Leon Wang, whoever he is.

Maybe, he thinks, just maybe this is meant to be.

His mind swimming with cloudy thoughts, his eyelids begin to droop until sleep eventually comes over him. He needs to clear his head for a bit. The one thing that keeps him awaiting his next waking moment is the possibility that perhaps Leon will contact him when he gets back to Volt. He barely notices the soft footsteps leading to his room and the blanket that drapes over his body as he drifts off.

* * *

"I saw you two."

Emil lowers his head in embarrassment, but his brother does not seem to be in the mood to scold or tease him. Lukas must have watched them through their security feed stationed out in the front; he can only be grateful they do not have audio input installed.

"Do you love him, Ice?"

He feels his heart skip a beat.

"I don't know."

He can hear his brother sigh. "But you don't hate him, or that would've gotten ugly fast." He pauses. "That wasn't the first time you've kissed, was it?"

"No." This is not the time to lie about this sort of thing. "It wasn't."

Another sigh. "I won't ask you when the last time was, nor will I ask you how many times before this one you did it, if it makes you feel any better, Ice."

In shaky relief, Emil lowers his head even further until his chin is practically touching his collarbone. "Thanks, Brother."

Lukas sighs yet again. "Still. Some older brother I'm turning out to be. I can't really offer you advice here, Ice. This is something you're going to have to figure out on your own." He nibbles his lower lip. "Mathias and I are still trying to sort things out, ourselves."

"Mm…" Emil hums.

"I'm going to be honest with you: your kind of feelings are different than what I might know. I want to be able to say you can talk to me if you're feeling stressed or frustrated. You know that. But this isn't something that can be easily repaired. I don't want to give you a false sense of hope—this subject in particular. Whatever feelings you express for Leon will be based on your decision."

Emil cranes his neck back up and gives his brother a peculiar look. "You're being awfully liberal about this."

"It's because you're an adult now, and I think it's time you start deciding things for yourself." The grip around his arm tightens. "I won't always be here for you, little brother. You will have to decide things for yourself all on your own one day, and the sooner you get a grasp of it, the better. Especially something like this. I don't…I don't want you to end up they way I did." He leans forward and pats his brother's back. "Realize what your true feelings are, Ice. Don't always lurk in the dark. I'm not encouraging you to force yourself into loving Leon, nor am I not asking you to back off. I just want you to be honest with yourself. If you feel like this is the best course of action, then I will support you for as much as you want me to."

"Lukas…" In truth, he does want some form of direction. He wishes things can be easily laid out for him the way it should have been from the start. He would not have to be here pondering over the conflicts of his emotions. But as he sits here talking like this, Lukas has never seemed like an older brother to him more than he has now. He cannot be grateful enough.

"Thank you, Brother," he smiles.

"Don't mention it. Now, are you going to do something about that mark on your neck?"

Emil jolts and moves a hand to his neck. He does not remember Leon touching him there. "Wh-What are you talking about? Leon didn't—"

"I was joking." There is a definite light-heartedness to Lukas' voice.

"Oh!" he cries. "Y-You! Lukas, that's not funny!"

Lukas is softly laughing as his brother chucks a pillow at him. Different as it is, it feels refreshing to be able to interact with Emil on this level. "It was to me, Ice. On another topic, it's good that you're getting along with Leon, but you can't just sit around all summer. Since you don't have summer school this year, you should think about what you're going to do for these next few months. And make sure it's something productive."

"Yes, Brother," Emil mutters and flops back on his bed. Just hearing about it makes him more exhausted than ever, yet he knows he cannot let his brother take care of all of the financial responsibilities. He knows Lukas is implying that he should find a job, although he technically already has one; he just is not sure if it will be one that Lukas will approve. By the time he decides it is best to bring up his trip to visit Leon next week, Lukas is already heading out to run some errands at the pharmacy. He will not be back until later this evening, he tells him.

"Ah…Lukas," he grumbles, and flips through his phone. There are still no messages from Leon, even after finishing his nap. He wonders what that celebrity is doing right now.

* * *

Leon expected nothing short of the chaos that is ensuing even before he makes it home. The studio is in complete disarray with media studios from all over the city piling up at the edges with security guards barricading the perimeters. Cubes hover over the area in case any violence broke out, in which, they will be quick to fire a stunning jolt at any aggressors.

It is in times like these that he wishes he hung onto the pair of D.U.M.B. sunglasses instead of keeping the promise he made, but he figures it is a matter of earning Emil's trust through his respect. He needs to use a different means of getting back into the studio without making a scene. He has gotten this far into Volt without being detected. A little more should not be a problem. Cheng was notified about Leon's return only after he crossed into the elite district. He told Leon to wait for him and to not do anything reckless before he meeting up with him. It would have been easier to meet him outside of Volt, but such a case cannot be helped anymore.

Now retreating deep into the shopping district of Volt, Leon finds himself wandering back through the streets where he and Emil once drove to for lunch. He has no right to say that the moments were nostalgic, but he does remember being questionable about how he really felt about his soul mate. One could have said he simply found amusement in having Emil existing the way he did. He did not have to be someone he needed to love, but he could still have his fun with him.

Still, having everything pass by so suddenly and having his world change like this feels so new. It is like for the first time, someone undid his leash, and what frightened him most was the freedom he had. Imagine that, he thinks, not knowing what to do with this newfound liberty. Perhaps he even missed having a set lifestyle. The drama he can do without, but having Emil being there at the end of the little run makes it feel worth it. He wants him so much.

"Imagine that," he chuckles to himself. And imagine his surprise when he bumps into a peculiar, yet not-so-completely-familiar face strolling on the streets.

"Watch yourself," he snaps at the person until he gets a better look at the man. His stature is not quite lanky as it is muscular, and there is only one person who would go out of his way to make such a bold statement about his hair and zany fashion sense. Honestly, he is surprised he did not notice him walking down the street earlier, but it could be because of the odd sunglasses he is wearing. For that matter, he is surprised this person did not recognize him, considering who he is.

"Yong Soo?"

Startled, the man flinches in place before gathering his composure. "Oh! Ha ha ha! You must've mistaken me for someone else!" To Leon's confirmation, he is tapping his sunglasses and muttering something like, "Darn things still have bugs to fix…"

"What are you doing here?" Leon asks. "I figured you'd be giving autographs or something, not hanging around the shopping area."

The celebrity raises a thin eyebrow. "And  _I_  thought  _you_  were supposed to be missing. Where were you last night?"

"Visiting a friend," he casually but truthfully answers.

"Oh." At least the pop star can be casual about it, too.

"So what about you?"

"Going somewhere," he replies, but not as casually as Leon makes him out to be.

"That can't be it. Where are you four fab' freaky bodyguards?" It is unusual for him to not be surrounded by them, especially in an open area like this.

Yong Soo scratches his neck. "Uh, I just told them to take the day off today. A little vacation, you know."

Leon is not entirely convinced. "Not really, no. Seriously, what kind of business do you have being here? And you're carrying those stupid sunglasses around."

"What is it to you?" the celebrity wrinkles his brow at him. "It's my business, so I'll do whatever I want!"

"It  _is_  my business," Leon frowns with a menacing look. "Volt is practically run by my family, so any trouble you're about to cause goes through me in time."

Yong Soo holds his hands up. "Relax, Leon. I'm not here to cause any trouble. Really. I'm…seeing someone."

This confuses Leon. "Seeing someone?" he echoes. "As in…you have a girlfriend? That's bad for your media rep', isn't it?"

"No, you don't get it!" he loudly whispers all of a sudden. "Gah—I've said too much! Well, maybe you're alright. Leon—Wait a minute, wait a minute." He starts to look around suspiciously and herds him into a corner underneath some landscaping decorations.

"The fuck, man!" Leon snaps and throws Yong Soo's hand off of him. "Don't touch me!"

But Yong Soo completely ignores him. "Hey, can you keep a secret?"

Leon grunts. "Depends." He knows about himself enough that he cannot keep a secret for others. Cheng always said something about him having a loose mouth. Keeping his own secrets is another matter, however.

"Okay, whatever. I think I can trust you on this," Yong Soo quickly says, looking back over his shoulder from time to time in case anyone is listening.

"Mustn't be that big if you're telling me," Leon shrugs. "We've barely been working for a few weeks. Alright, whatever. Lay it on me."

The celebrity's soft brown eyes run go blank. "Really? You're not going to rat me out?"

"Hey, as long as you don't get me involved, I don't give a damn, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay. It doesn't have anything to do with you." Then, Yong Soo takes a deep breath, and tells him of his secret.

"My watch stopped."

And time stopped with it.

"What?"

"I-I was keeping it from my agents this whole time because I wasn't sure if it was just going to be a hoax or whatever. You know how it is, trying to keep the bachelor image up in this line of work. You know, right? But this girl! Leon, she's something else. I don't know how to describe her. It's like…from the moment I saw her, I knew she was meant for me."

Leon's voice is completely devoid of emotion. "You can't be serious."

"I am! I thought it was funny how those watches worked. I've had mine for a while, a-and I've never really thought about what would happen when it would go off, but it was like…." He lets out a heavy breath. "It was like it was meant to be, you know?"

"Yeah." He gives him a conflicted smile. "I know."

"Naw, man, you don't know!" Yong Soo laughs. His voice is lighter than normal. "It changes you! Just, every second of the day, I want to see her and know more about her. It's not, I don't know, like I want to, er, touch her or anything like that. I just feel committed to her. I want to be with her, Leon."

"That's nice."

"It is!" he smiles. "Oh, man, you have no idea how nice it feels to be talking to someone about this. You're not going to say anything about it, are you?"

"No reason to," and he means that.

"Thanks, Leon," he breathes in relief. "But that's what's been happening. I'm gonna go meet her right now. She doesn't live too far from here. Hey, maybe sometime in the future, we'll be neighbors. We'll just settle down here in Volt, and I can visit you and stuff."

"Great," and he does not mean that.

"Well, see you at the studio tomorrow, Leon," Yong Soo waves to him. He backs away and adjusts the sunglasses over his eyes, continuing down the sidewalk. "Nice talking with you. And thanks for keeping this between us."

"Uh-huh."

It feels like he swallowed a ball of nails.

It is not fair. He wants someone to look forward to, too. He wants someone to ask him questions about his day and share stories with. Not just the kissing and hugging. He wants someone he will feel comfortable being with. That should have been him all along.

Can Emil be like that? All of this time, Leon found him amusing simply because of who he is. Never did he consider the possibility that he would ever  _need_ to fall in love with him. But seeing Yong Soo and how happy he seemed to be made him feel something: jealousy.

It was too easy for Yong Soo. It simply is not fair. Leon wants that for himself, too. He wants someone he can be himself around at the end of the day, and nothing else would matter.

He has little idea of where to start. He has been careful this entire time, laying out his character in such a way that would attract Emil. The person he set himself up as is someone that Emil will particularly feel drawn towards, not one of his true self, or at the very least, not anyone that he thinks he would normally be. But if this is the person his soul mate likes, then what would he say to his true colors when they showed? Would he still like him?

In the short time he has before his cousin finds him and picks him up, he can only find one thing. It frightens him. It confuses him. He does not know whether Emil will like his true self. He does know if  _he_  likes himself. Beneath the layers and masks and identities he has created to protect his image, he cannot remember who he truly is. He forgot a long time ago.


	20. Chapter 20

"Cheng, I'm not a bad person, am I?"

Such a question can only be answered with the obvious answer. "Of course, you're not, Leon." Both Cheng and his cousin know each other enough to where there is no need to ask why. There is something bothering the abruptly open celebrity.

"Like, I thought when I first found out who Ice was, that'd be just it. I could just have a little fun with him and maybe see how things turned out, but now…I'm not so sure."

Something must have happened, Cheng thinks. His cousin would not be telling him about his feelings, otherwise—let alone in a drawn-out analysis like this. He lets him continue talking as he drives through a detour around Golden Avenue. The media is still on the lookout for Leon after his disappearance; the front of Wang Studio is littered with press and security guards; and Cubes are hovering like menacing drones in the air, hoping to pull up a recognizable face. Official city surveillance has not stepped in thanks to Kiku pulling some strings, but it is only a matter of time before suspicions arise. Everything will be cleared up once Leon shows his face to Yao. He can only hope he will watch himself when it comes to his scolding.

"It's all really strange. Like, when I met him, I thought it was all a big joke someone was pulling on me. But, nope. It was the real thing. So like the joke I thought it was, I decided to play along. I'm not sure, Cheng; I thought he could just be someone I could include in my life on some stupid excuse."

That excuse being the watches, Cheng knows.

"And yet, I don't know. I—" He stops and scoffs, realizing how ridiculous he must sound, wallowing in self-doubt. "It's stupid. All of it. But when I was given a chance to be who I wanted to be, without someone finally judging who I was…well, being someone famous, I mess it up. And, like, maybe I've always wanted someone who I could just be myself around, someone who could  _love_  me for who I am." The word "love" tastes like a venomously bitter pill on the tip of his tongue. It is like testing out a foreign word every time. Having been exposed to the world in the spotlight of stardom, he has had countless people profess their love for him, and time after time, it has always been fake. He has known it. Cheng knows it, too, yet because he is a special case, this is the only reason Leon can hope to trust him with his inner thoughts. He needs confirmation on this matter.

"Was I wrong, Cheng?" His fingers fidget with his bangs as he absentmindedly looks out at the passing buildings. The venues are looking fancier and more expensive. They must be nearing the shopping district.

"Wrong about how you initially presented yourself in front of Emil, you mean?" Cheng assumes.

"Yeah…" Confirming his cousin's assumption is just as bitter.

Quick to think and judge another's character, it does not take long for his cousin to answer. "No, Leon. I don't think there was any way to be wrong. You took what you knew at the time and acted how you would have given your previously current thought process. That doesn't necessarily make it incorrect, but perhaps you were just being the way you would to everyone else." He then adds, "Everyone excluding myself, I would think."

Leon smirks. "Uh-huh. Everyone but you."

"And maybe now that you've spent time with Emil, you know that how you act isn't the way you should be acting in front of him. You must really care about him if you're thinking this way."

"Yeah. At least…I want to think so. Why else would I have my watch?"

Cheng smiles, relieved Leon is not thinking so closed-mindedly. Emil must have tested all sorts of angles on his character. That might be why he is so confused with himself.

"I see, Leon. I can't say you're starting to think differently because of your watch, but perhaps it gave you that tiny push in the right direction. Do you think what you're feeling is right?"

Leon makes a slight frown. "I don't know. Can it be?"

"It doesn't appear wrong. You truly want someone else to know the real you, it seems."

"Well, yeah, but that's the thing. I don't really know who that person is."

Cheng takes his eyes off the road for a brief moment to look at his cousin. His golden eyes are wandering aimlessly at the car floor, and his facial features appear tense rather than relaxed. Something _really_ must have set him off.

"Leon, is there something you're not telling me?" he has to ask.

"Huh?" he looks up at him. "I—Mm, kind of. It's nothing that we need to worry about, but it got me thinking about stuff." He scoffs again. "It's going to sound cheesy."

"Oh?" A tug pulls on the side of Cheng's mouth. "Try me."

Of course he would be hard to move, Leon thinks amusingly and tells him. "Ice's been the closest person I've had to knowing about me—you aside, I mean. But I feel that what I've shown him is as far as it goes. Like, I don't know. It's like that dumb iceberg thing they used to teach in schools. You know the one." Though Leon has never attended a public school, he has enough knowledge about common subjects to converse with others.

"The one about psychology," Cheng clarifies.

"Yeah, that one," Leon nods. "It's like what's one the surface is what everyone else sees. Normal people." Cheng gets the idea, so he continues. "Below that, there's the family. Yao's a little higher on the top. And then there's all this stuff on the bottom that even I don't know about. I feel like I've been playing up myself for so long, I don't know what's underneath anymore. I want to remember, Cheng. But at the same time…"

"You're afraid to find out what's there," Cheng turns to him, "and you're afraid that what you find might not be what Emil likes."

He does not need confirmation from anywhere else. Hearing it in Cheng's words is enough assurance for what he is feeling.

"I kissed Ice again, you know," he suddenly says without batting an eyelash.

Cheng does not reply immediately. His eyes have since fixed on the road. When he registers those words, he has a rough idea of what has been going on. "I'm assuming you've gotten his consent at some point."

"Yeah. I want him to like me, Cheng. Well, I'd like it if more people did instead of hating me, but Ice is different. I want him to know the real me, but it's so hard after what I've pulled around him. I know parts of him don't like me, and we've had our fights. And then there's his brother…"

"Lukas," Cheng nods.

"Yep. He's on a level all on his own." He leans back in his seat and sighs. "I don't know, Cheng. It's a lot of things. I thought I didn't care before. It was just fun using Ice as an excuse to do stupid things, but it's been so long since I've had someone I could be around on my own that it's…scary." As he speaks, he reaches a hand out to the ceiling as if grabbing at some invisible insect. "It's gotten to a point where I feel that if I mess up, I'll lose reach of everything that I've worked for. I don't think I'm going to get another chance like this, Cheng. That's what the watches were setting up for me, I think. You can say they'll work—and they always have—but getting there? It's…tough."

"I know, Leon." It is all he can do to smile.

"And if I'm going to get there, then I want to know it was me who did it—not some stupid kid who's had a silver spoon shoved in his mouth all this time. I shouldn't even care about this all, you know."

"But you do, Leon, and that's why you're telling me these things."

"I know," he tiredly sighs. "It doesn't seem fair, though. Some people have it so easy. It's like, 'Hey, your watch stopped. Mine did, too.' And they get together just like that. I didn't think it would be so easy, but it happens." He turns to Cheng. "What do you think? If it was that easy for me, do you think I would be the same person at the end?"

His cousin lightly exhales and makes a turn. "Leon, love is something that comes in all different forms. The love I have for you isn't the same as the kind you might expect from your soul mate. There will be times when you have to make compensations however big or small they may be. Who knows? Even if it appeared easy at first, maybe you would change down the road. Do you think you would be happy having someone who loved you on the surface?"

"Well…no. That'd be boring. Lots of people are like that."

"Then I believe this was meant to be." Leon stares at him. "Perhaps in a different time or a difference place, it would not have been Emil, but someone else. However, the fact that you'd desire a purer form of love true to your real character would not change. That said, in this present moment, Emil fits a lot of the qualities you desire, and that must've been what made you two compatible. How you go about working with that compatibility is up to you, but you at least desire an end goal to all of this—that being wanting Emil to love you for who you are."

Again Leon hears that word, yet pairing it alongside Emil does not make it seem so bad. It nearly flatters him thinking about the last thing Cheng said. "You said it, not me. Then how would I go about accomplishing this goal?"

His cousin chuckles. "It can be as easy as being yourself, Leon. Oh, we're here." The conversation cuts off. Cheng pulls into the garage and parks in the private section reserved for family members. Leon had his eyes fixed on Cheng most of the time, but he did hear some media fanatics hovering outside of the studio as they were nearing the garage. He briefly takes a moment to wonder how long it will be before they clear out or how long Yao expects to wait before announcing his return.

"Hey, Cheng, you're going to back me up, right?" he asks as they get out of the vehicle.

Cheng locks the car and walks with him to the elevator. "I'll try as much as I'm given the opportunity to, but this charade was all on you, Leon. It will do you well in the future to take responsibility for your actions and avoid making a mess of our family."

"So…that's a yes?"

"It's a yes," his cousin lightly laughs.

Like two generals reviewing their battle plan, the cousins discuss what to say to Yao as the elevator shoots them to the upper floors. They will have to make a detour through another elevator before reaching the top floor, so they have some time before having to face the head of Wang Studio.

"He doesn't know about Ice an' I being a thing, right?" Leon asks just to be sure.

"Not as an official watch-paired couple, no," Cheng says. "That information no longer exists. As far as anyone is concerned, you're technically allowed to do as you please."

Knowing that Leon and Emil's relationship may never be confirmed to be official by watchmaker records is something that feels out of place to some, but for Leon, he could care less. At this point, he thinks if it works out, then it works out. Papers should not have to tell anyone anything about what is real or not.

"Cheng, I don't think Yao or the rest of the world is ready to know about me an' Ice yet. I want some space."

"That's perfectly fine with me, Leon," his cousin acknowledges. "I think Emil would agree with you."

"Thanks," he says and refocuses on explaining things to his guardian. "Okay, since he doesn't recognize us as a watch pairing, then I've gotta say something about why I don't have my vest or pants anymore."

"Right," Cheng sighs. "You really had to take them off?"

Leon wrinkles his nose. "They stunk. I couldn't wear that in front of Lukas. It'd leave a bad impression." Now thinking harder into it, the image of as flashy stage-dressed celebrity eating a normal dinner in his soul mate's house sounds enticing, but it will never earn him points with Emil's brother. "I let the cleaning company take care of the damages."

"But also the Braginsky crystals," Cheng flatly reminds him. "Leon, your costume was expensive."

"Oops."

"I suppose that can't be helped now. Recovering the crystals will draw too much attention and take too much time. Still, I wish you could have done without destroying Emil's washer."

Leon shrugs. "That wasn't my fault. It was Lukas'. He took my clothes."

Cheng's focus has since shifted to how to fabricate a proper story for Leon's disappearance. He could easily say he was out partying. Being stupid. Being an irresponsible adult. Yao will not like it, but it will be believable. It is not the best way to explain himself, but considering Leon's personality and character, it is the most logical.

"Leon, do you want to be yourself when you explain things to Yao?" he asks him.

"Mm? How so?"

Cheng has a befuddled expression riddled on his face. "You can just as well say you were out and about, partying with some people and turned off your phone. Of course, you will have to explain the disappearance of your clothes and the fact that no one could get through to you, but it's manageable."

"Oh. Right." Leon yawns. Suddenly, returning to his home makes him feel oddly relaxed. He should be tense and upset with having to explain himself to his guardian, but after clearing his head with Cheng in the car ride, he feels remarkably refreshed and at ease. The last thing on his mind is dealing with Yao and his punishments, however unfair and ridiculous they are. He still has the modeling shoot to look forward to. Just thinking about it makes his heart light. He really wants to see Emil again, he realizes.

Leon's cousin speaks one last time before stepping into the second elevator. "I should tell you that being yourself doesn't necessarily mean speaking your mind however you want. You have to realize not everyone thinks the same way you do, and that hurts people." He pauses. "You've hurt more than Emil by doing that."

Leon goes quiet in the elevator. Cheng does the same. He knows his cousin needs some room in his thoughts. However many times he has done this in the past, he has to concentrate in order to put on an act. Few people know he has been pulling it off in more places than in front of the big screen.

Inside the elevator, Leon clicks his tongue and plays with his side bangs. His eyes wander every now and then as he thinks about what to tell his guardian. An outburst might be amusing to see, but Cheng has warned him about his unstable blood pressure. Going out and losing his costume is bad enough, but intentionally making him even more upset will be pushing things. As much as he wants Yao to give him space, he cannot deny that he is his guardian, and his health means something. He will have to play his cards carefully if he wants to get away from a large punishment.

He decides on his words by the time he and Cheng reach the top floor. As expected, Lien is not at her usual desk; as Emil mentioned the night before, she must be still out looking for him. The poor woman must have been worked to a deadbeat level trying to think of places to find him. Leon makes a mental note to apologize to her later as he goes over to Yao's office.

Not even meters before reaching the far end of the floor, the cousins can hear Yao cursing up a storm in Jiang. Kiku is not present, supposedly trying to settle things with the media agencies on the lower floors. The only one to monitor Yao is Kasem who is doing his best to keep Leon's raging guardian from breaking a glass wall.

"Leon!" Kasem immediately cries with a definite amount of relief in his voice. "You're here, thank goodness. Please. Just go. I ran out of things to say to him, and I'm worried." He turns to Cheng as Leon hurries past him and quietly thanks him for bringing the former missing celebrity back under this roof.

"I'm really sorry for putting you through this, Kasem," Cheng apologizes. "It must've been tough."

"No, I'm fine. It's Lien I'm more worried about. She went outside to search for Leon in my place because she knows…" He sighs. "…how forgetful I can be about Leon's favorite hangouts."

Cheng gives his relative a forgiving look. "That's not your fault. I can't thank you both enough for helping. I promise I'll make it up to you. After this, I'll—"

"Where  _were_ you?!" a harsh voice cracks through their talk.

"I'm sorry, Kasem, I really should be with Leon for this," Cheng hastily says. "You'd better go tell Lien Leon's here."

"Right. Good luck," he whispers and gratefully whisks himself away from the hectic scene.

"Being young and stupid," Leon bluntly answers to his guardian's ear-wrenching question.

"You disappeared!" Yao roars. "No one could get ahold of you! Kiku and I—everyone! We called you a hundred times, and you wouldn't pick up! We couldn't trace the signal on your phone! Do you realize how—"

"—many interviews I had?" Leon interrupts him with a gruff, contempt tone. "Yeah. Five. On my fucking birthday. Did you think I was going to sit around and do them, old man?"

"Do you—!" Yao stops and lets out a heavy, tired sigh. There are wrinkles on his brow that were not there twenty years ago. His forehead is cold and his face pale. Dark circles on his eyes indicate a lack of sleep an imbalances in his blood pressure. Having Leon disappearing this time has really set his health in a downward spiral, yet even to Leon, it has never been this bad before.

Before he speaks again, Yao takes a moment to sit on his desk and rub his eyes. When he looks to his adopted son, it is as though a decade has been taken off his life. "Leon…Do you realize how _worried_ I was? I thought something happened to you. I'm being honest with you. We couldn't find you. What surveillance we had and what patrol we sent out turned up nothing. I thought maybe you…"

His voice trails off. When it does, the calm of the storm appears to have passed overhead. The air is heavy, but it does not suffocate Leon as it normally would. The celebrity wonders if this is because he has grown numb to his guardian's biting words or because he has better things to worry about. Whatever the case is, he feels lighter than he should be.

"…Leon…" Yao finally speaks, though his voice is so low, it is a stark contrast to his previous volume. "I thought maybe something had happened to you. A-A kidnapping maybe, getting in an accident when you were headed to the station, something! I—" A tired sigh passes through his body like a ghost, and again he looks worn and aged. "I know I haven't been the best guardian for the past twenty years. And you're an adult now. I know that. But you should know that I do care about you like any parent would, and I get concerned about your safety. I can't always have you running around doing what you like all of the time."

"Then maybe you should keep me on such a rough leash, old man," Leon snaps. "Didja think about that?"

Wrinkles form between Yao's brow. "Don't talk back to me like that, young man. You know perfectly well what you did yesterday was childish and irresponsible—especially as an adult. You shouldn't have made me worry the way you did yesterday, and you wasted hundreds of people's time and money. How do you respond to that?"

"I just…" Leon grumbles something unintelligible and kicks the posh rug with his heel. "I just want to be free."

"Free!" Yao exclaims. "You go out and cause so much trouble for our production staff and the agencies, and you say you want to be  _free?_ "

"Yeah! Fucking free! Since day one of being your stupid kid, you were setting me up on this path. Did you ever think to ask me if this is what  _I_ wanted? Ever?" Leon whips around and crosses his arms to his guardian's silence. "Never. Right. That's what I thought."

"How dare you talk to your father that way!" Yao explodes again, only this time, it looks like he is at a breaking point. "You should be thankful you get to live in such a good life! Other people would love to have your position as a movie star and live under the roof of a nice family!"

Like the actor he was born to play, Leon throws his head back in a dramatic fashion and dryly laughs. "As if I can call you my father. That's rich, old man. Real rich."

It is only now that Cheng steps in to speak before things escalate out of control. "Leon, please calm down and look at this. It is clear that Yao was afraid something bad might have happened. Believe me, I feel the same way." Leon catches that he does not hint at already knowing why he skipped out after the concert. "I understand having yourself committing to our family may be difficult at times, but you cannot always have such a one-track mind. Yao has always thought he has been setting you on this path in his best interests, don't you realize that?"

Leon snorts and looks away from Yao entirely. He cannot stand to face his guardian, yet knowing Cheng is there calms him down if only just a notch. "Then you'd think he would lay if off every now and then, wouldn't you? I'm an adult. I should be allowed to choose how I want to do things."

"Yes, being an adult has certain freedoms and privileges," Cheng acknowledges, "but it also has larger responsibilities—one such being your role as a celebrity. You can't expect everything to turn out fine if you drop off the face of the screen."

"You're not siding with him, are you?" Leon asks with a hint of startled disgust in his tone. But Cheng is as unmoved and composed as always.

"No, I'm trying to show you a different perspective because it's apparent you won't hear it from your guardian." As he lets Leon process that statement, he looks to his uncle who looks as if he will pass out from shock. He clearly has something to say, but the words will not form, whether from confusion or rage or some other distraught form of emotion, he does not know. All Cheng knows is that this conversation needs to be over before something spirals out of control. This was  _not_  the direction he hoped Leon would take things, especially considering the conversation they had in the car and on the way to the top floor.

"Uncle, would it be alright if I escort Leon to his room?" he asks suddenly.

"What?" Leon looks to him. Yao also looks at his nephew.

"Leon's had a difficult night, and he isn't in his right mind. He needs rest. And I could say the same for you. It isn't healthy for you to get so stressed. Shouldn't be enough for you to see Leon perfectly unharmed?"

The look on Yao's face tells him that he is relieved, but the words that come out sound as distant and cold as Leon's recent behavior towards him. "It should be, but after that stunt he pulled, I can't say I can fully trust him anymore. Leon, you know this is going to result in a punishment."

And Leon, in turn, clicks his tongue in annoyance. His irritated side never fails to reveal his juvenile behavior.

"Community service."

"What the fuck—"

"Forty hours. This is for all of the people you let down and disappointed after the concert. How many fans did you think were waiting to see you after the show? How many interviews did you drop? Five, was it? Well, you'll be doing a lot more during your service time. And maybe you'll learn something about managing that attitude of yours. There will be ordinary people watching you and working with you. See how long you can pull your charade without people seeing your real colors."

"This—What the actual fuck! You treating me like some kind of prisoner with a sentence? I'm not going to do fucking community service! I have other things to do!"

"Yes? Well, you certainly had a lot to do after the concert, didn't you?" Yao throws back.

"Fuck you!" Leon shouts.

"Leon, language," Cheng reminds him with a stern voice. "It's reasonable enough. Come along. Excuse us, Uncle." He does not need to use force with his cousin to get him to follow, but Leon is still putting up resistance like a child, grumbling all the way until they reach the elevator. Only when the doors close does Cheng breathe again.

"Well…" he sighs. "That could have gone a  _lot_ better, wouldn't you say so?"

His cousin's arms are crossed. "Tell me about it. Bastard didn't even ask about the clothes."

"Leon," he stares through his sharp-looking glasses, "I know you're frustrated with Yao, but you have to understand that the world does not revolve around you. You know I would do anything to make you happy, but my influence can only extend so far."

"Then don't do anything about it," his cousin gruffly replies. "I didn't ask you for help." He curses when he realizes how out of line that was. If there is one person he cannot hope to intentionally hurt, it is Cheng. He has always covered for him and taken his side. He has always been willing to listen and support him, and now for him to brush him off like he just did with his guardian makes him feel awful on the inside. It is not the most pleasant of feelings.

"Sorry," he flatly says. "I didn't mean that."

"I understand," his cousin breathes. He checks his wristwatch, an antique item only worn by enthusiasts nowadays. He still has some time before he has to return to Neon. Until then, he decides to talk about the task at hand. "So…community service. It's not the punishment I would have chosen, but it is better than others I might have thought of."

Leon smirks, a common expression and one that breaks the initially tense atmosphere. "Would you have even given me a punishment? Or would one of your lectures count as one?"

Cheng laughs. "I would hope not. Then I'd feel terrible for giving them to you."

"No, I don't mind them. But, yeah…woo. Community service."

Cheng nods. "Forty hours. It's manageable."

"Yeah, but it's like a big, fat middle finger," Leon frowns. "You remember what the old man said back there, the part about letting everyone know who I really am."

"The side of you Emil is familiar with?"

"Well…no. The side everyone behind the scenes knows."

"Ah.  _That_ one." By "that one," Cheng is referring to the Leon that curses and yells at the crew and actors for not getting their "shit" together, the side that acts like the spoiled brat Yao has made him out to be.

And who is to blame Leon for acting that way? It is how he was brought up and how he projects himself in any appropriate situation—or so Cheng understands it. With anyone in the public eye, it will leave a bad impression on Leon. This is a daunting form of punishment for him, in other words. He has to decide whether or not it is worth compensating his public image over his own desires. He can easily give up during the community service, but it will look bad on him regardless. One way or another, Emil will eventually know, and Cheng believes that is what is bothering Leon at this very moment.

"I'm tired, Cheng," Leon abruptly yawns.

"I can imagine you are," his cousin smiles. "But you had fun with Emil and his family, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"That's good to hear. I'd love to know more about the details when you have more time."

Leon cocks his head at him. "Why? You going somewhere?"

"I think I should speak with Yao again before returning to Neon. That was a very bitter note we left him on. I want to patch some things up before seeing through to your punishment."

"Oh. Well, do what you have to do. I'm done talking with him."

The elevator stops at one of the lower floors and opens to a wide hallway with two security guards at the front. Most of the time, they rarely see the spicy-tempered celebrity, but today is a treat. They stare motionlessly ahead as he and Cheng walk by and access his room.

Upon closing the door, Leon immediately goes for his bed and flops face-down onto his pillow and covers. "Mrph," his muffled voice sounds. "Fank 'e 'ods."

"Of course," Cheng comments, though he cannot be sure Leon was saying that out of mere expression. "Leon…?" He looks to his cousin who is steadily breathing through the thick pillow. "Leon, I have something to tell you."

"Mm?" He turns over and faces him. "Yeah?"

Memories from when Leon and Emil visited the Neon district flood back to him. He remembers the conversation they had in their room and what intentions Leon has. They are shallow and utterly selfish, but for him to go against his cousin's motivations is something he does not want to wish upon himself.

" _I want to make him mine."_

Leon never explained what he meant when asked about what he wants. All that matters to him is getting Emil to bend at his will—that does not mean he has to fall for him, too.

Cheng wonders if he is being played like the rest. He is always one step ahead of his cousin, yet there have been plenty of times when he has allowed his cousin to use him like a trump card. This time, however, the stakes are higher. This is a human heart Leon is playing with, and one that can easily break if dealt with the wrong hand. As much as he wants Leon to be happy, playing fate into his own hands like this goes against what the watches stand for. This will destroy Emil.

"Something up, Cheng?"

"Hm?" He blinks and recollects himself, readjusting his glasses. "Er, right. I just wanted to say you should be careful around Emil. He's delicate in mind and heart. I hope you realize how precious that is."

"Don't I?" His response comes off as starkly casual, as if being asked about what the answer of two plus three is.

Cheng forces a smile, but because of his businesslike personality, even Leon has a hard time distinguishing real from fake. "Of course. I shouldn't doubt your judgment. Please take care, then, and try not to make a mess of things while you're here."

"Gotcha," Leon smiles back. "See you later, Cheng."

"Same to you, Leon."

* * *

Emil jumps when his phone rings. His contact roster has only three contacts in it, and by process of elimination, the caller can only be Leon.

"Hey," comes a familiar voice as he answers it.

"H-Hey," he shakily echoes back. He thinks of something to get the conversation going. "So you're free?"

"Sort of. If you can call it that." Emil hears a chuckle through the speaker. "I'm back at the studio, but I'm being held captive."

Rolling his eyes, Emil falls back onto his bed and leans against the wall. He knows Leon would not get himself into a foolish situation so easily. "Stop playing," he snorts. "Did you talk with your fa—your guardian?"

A scoff. "Psh. Yeah, and it went awfully. "I fucked up. Cheng was there, and, well, let's just say I'm going to have to do forty hours of community service."

"Forty?" Emil raises an eyebrow. "That's not too bad."

"Huh?"

"Really. It's not bad. We had to do a bunch when we were in high school. I know you didn't do any, but if any graduating high school student could do it, you can do it, too."

"Oh," comes a flat response. "Well thanks for looking out for me."

Emil lowers his eyes. "Are you supposed to do some kind of specific community service?"

"Beats me. My old man didn't say. But that means less free time for us. Sorry." The apology comes off rather dismissive considering that means Leon will not be able to dedicate any spare time with Emil during the summer. It also does not help that the punishment was probably due to Leon making a scene when it could have easily been settled. Then again, Emil did not have to let him stay for the night. As foolish as he feels about it, he feels partially responsible for what happened.

"You shouldn't have come over," he speaks in a dejected voice. "It would have saved everyone the trouble if I said 'No.' Then none of this would've happened."

"Yeah?" Leon's voice suddenly picks up into a teasing tone. "And you'd really want  _all_ of it to not happen?"

A rush of heat creeps across Emil's face. Leon has to be talking about the kisses. "That could've waited," he huffs. "I wasn't really asking for it. It just…happened."

"Mm, but you don't regret it, do you?"

Though he is the only one in his room, Emil consciously turns his bashful face towards the wall. It is like a thousand eyes are on him and a thousand more listening in on their conversation. "Ye—? No? I don't know, Leon. I told you, it just happened."

A pause. "So you didn't want it to happen?"

"What? No! Stop putting words into my mouth!"

"Then you didn't want it to not happen?"

"No? Yes? Leon, this isn't funny! I don't regret it, if that's what you're asking!" From the other end of the call, he can hear laughing, and it makes his face grow redder.

"Okay. I'm sorry." This time the apology sounds genuine. "You're right. That's what I wanted to hear."

"Stupid," Emil grumbles, despite feeling gratified for saying something Leon wanted.

Leon shifts focus. "So how are things on your end? Did you tell your brother about going to the modeling shoot?"

That again, Emil thinks. "Not yet. Lukas left for work. I'm not sure how to bring it up to him. I haven't told him about my job yet."

"Huh. I don't know how your brother thinks, but he'll probably, like, freak out if you just bring it up out of the blue."

"I know," Emil irritably responds, "and that's why I declined in the first place."

"Ah, so it was my dashing charm that changed your mind," Leon speaks in a mockingly arrogant voice.

"Shut up."

"But it's true." He is mostly right in that sense, much to Emil's frustration.

"I'll have to tell him I'm going eventually. I can't just walk around without him hovering over me every once in a while. But it's not like I'm a celebrity…" His voice trails off for a moment as he tries to think of how to carry on the phone call. "So…what did you tell your guardian?"

"About where I disappeared to?"

"Mm, that."

"I was off being young and stupid."

Emil furrows his brow. "No, really, Leon."

"That's what I said," and he does not give a clear indication of lying.

"Really? That lame? I thought you were an actor, Mr. Wang."

He hears him exhale. "I was telling the truth."

"But you could've said anything. Like, maybe you ran into an agent or something, saw an old friend, crashed a party, but you tell him you were being young and stupid?"

"There are too many holes I'd need to fill with those, Ice. Trust me, I'd know. My agent digs into a lot of things when my old man gets upset. He'd find out I was lying."

"Lying," Emil echoes and rolls his eyes. "Why can't you tell him the truth? The  _real_ truth."

Silence. There is not even any white noise. For a second, Emil wonders if his friend hung up.

"Leon?"

The silence follows his voice for a few seconds more until the other end starts up again.

"Sorry, Ice. I was just thinking that maybe, like with the rest of the world, Yao isn't ready for you yet."

"Ready?" Emil's eyes flicker for a moment before adjusting his position. He does not understand. "Why would you say something like that?"

"…It's hard to explain. It's a little selfish of me, I know, but I want you all to myself."

"Huh?" Should he be flattered, he wonders? Leon just said it is selfish of him. He is aware of that, and being selfish makes him childish. But Emil has the feeling he wants to act childishly, too. It can be so easy to think Leon belongs to him, as well, and that nothing will come in between them. For all he knows, it might be a smart thing on Leon's part to keep their relationship under the radar. Neither of them will care for publicized attention, and the moment it becomes apparent and official to someone like Yao Wang, the world will know what they are.

"We're soul mates, Ice. I want that to mean something without anyone interfering. You've already seen what it did to your brother. I don't want that to happen to us. I want us to be special exclusively to us."

Emil knows perfectly well what Leon means, though it is surprising that he can read Lukas and Mathias' relationship just by a few encounters. Was it really been that obvious, he wonders? And as for wanting to be special, does that mean what he thinks it means? He needs to know.

"Le—"

"Crap. Kasem's calling on the other phone. Ice, I need to take this. I'll talk to you later?"

Emil feels his spirit deflating as his question is cut off before even managing to ask it. He decides it is best to let him contact his family, since they must be worried about him, and he lets him go. "I'll be around. I'll still see you next week, right?"

"Right. I'm sure Yao's not going to mess up that part of my schedule. See you, then, Ice."

"Bye," Emil says, and like before, Leon disappears in an instance. He is left to wait yet again.

It is not long before Lukas returns from the pharmacy and goes to check on his brother. He knocks on the side of the door before letting himself in and seeing Emil flipping through his birthday gift.

"Ice, I'm home," he says.

"Hey." The reply comes out as passive and dismissive. Lukas is used to such a reaction after several years, yet Emil barely makes a sliver of eye contact with him. Like the older brother that he is, he sits by Emil on his bed and stares just out of reach of his phone screen, so as to give the hint that he is not trying to intrude.

"Did Leon call you?" he asks.

"Uh-huh," another flat response comes out.

"What sort of punishment did he get into?"

"Community service." It nearly comes out as flatly as the other answers until Emil adds, "Seriously, that's what he said. Forty hours of it."

"Huh." Lukas knows he should not be feeling this way, but he feels content imagining that celebrity working in the streets or doing yard work. "Good for him. Did he tell you anything else?"

"Well, we were sort of talking about something." Lukas notices the way his brother's eyes shift to the side to avoid direct confrontation. "You remember how last night, Leon was talking about some photo shoot?"

He takes a few seconds to gather his thoughts and recall the dinner. He remembers finding it odd that Emil would cut Leon off so suddenly after mentioning something about a manager—that and a fruit tart. "Yes, I remember. Did you change your mind?"

Leave it to him to know what Emil is going to say. "Yes. I told him I want to go."

"What did I say about finding something productive to do over the summer?" Lukas reminds him.

"I'll get to that," Emil speaks with some annoyance in his otherwise calm voice. "So can I go to the photo shoot?"

"Who says you can't?" Lukas responds back with his arms crossed in contrast to his liberal reply. He may as well be saying "No" from the way he presents himself.

"My gut feeling?" his brother answers with a high tone in his voice. "I just wanted to make sure."

"I'm not stopping you. You're an adult now, and a better one than that Leon kid, I'd hope."

"Leon's not a kid anymore," Emil reminds him.

"True, but both of you are childish in more ways than one—and in more similar ways than I'd bother telling you about."

What is that supposed to mean, Emil wonders? "Would you say the same if I told you I was going to a club?" he dares asking.

"Now that you're twenty? Probably. But I'd be  _very_ disappointed in you." As he speaks, Lukas' eyes cloud over like a beckoning storm, and his irises turn from a deep ocean hue to a midnight blue.

Emil shudders. "Okay, I get it, Brother. No stupid stuff."

"Good. You're learning."

"Please give me more credit than that," he frowns.

"I'll give you credit where credit's due. Now if you're done talking with your boyfriend, you can help me clean up the washroom."

Blood rockets into Emil's cheeks and ears. "Wha—He's not my boyfriend!" However, seeing how stoic Lukas appears, he immediately can tell he is teasing him like before.

"I'd say you weren't, judging by your reaction, but that kiss didn't initiate itself, did it?"

Short bursts of grumbling and muddled cursing leak from Emil's pressed lips as he follows his brother downstairs. He should be grateful Lukas is taking everything so well. It is a shame he cannot say the same for Leon. Still, he can do without the teasing. The most Leon will probably get from his family is a long talk. The media is an entirely different scenario.

Roughly five minutes into sweeping the floors and rinsing the new washer out, Lukas looks to his brother again. "You know I was teasing you about Leon, correct?"

Emil looks away. "Yeah, but it's still annoying."

His brother's lips crack an amused smile. "But you know something? You didn't always get flustered when I teased you." Emil is silent as he contemplates ever reacting this way prior to meeting Leon. "You were always the upstanding little brother, but now with Leon stepping into your life, it's as if everything's turned upside down. I find myself wondering if we turned out the same way but in opposite scenarios: me with meeting Mathias so early and you and Leon growing up too fast. It's alright for you to have fun, Ice. I only want you to be safe and happy while doing so."

Emil twists his lips and shies from his brother's eyes. He has always had trouble confronting others when treated with understanding, his brother most of all. He utters a quiet "Thank you" and continues working. Lukas continues alongside him.


	21. XXI

A week goes by in the blink of an eye. Sometime in between the day after Leon's birthday and the day of the photo shooting session, Leon delivered the address and information to Emil. He is then told to put on his most presentably "hip" outfit and wear it with pride.

"Pride?" Emil softly reads aloud on his phone when he reviews the message again. Pride is what it says, and pride it shall be; however, Emil is not the proudest person in the world and falls behind in comparison to Mathias and Leon and, gods, even Lukas, but if these are the requirements for meeting up with Leon and getting into the studio, then he will have to bear with it for a little longer.

Before setting off, he checks himself in the mirror twice and another time by his brother who continues to give him funny looks.

"I don't remember buying this for you," he states, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as though he were a fashion critic.

"Brother, I can buy my own clothes, too, you know," Emil rolls his eyes. He stops midway as he tries to mentally remind himself to break that habit. It will not do for him to express any forms of irritancy during the photo shoot. As Leon Wang's soul mate, he wants to leave a decent impression in the eyes and minds of those he will meet, and he hopes they are not too overwhelming in arrogance and charisma like Leon can be.

After another round of examining his brother, Lukas gives him a pass in presentation. "It's still plain compared to the fashion these days in Volt, but I think you'll live. It's just to see the photographs and models work, after all. It isn't like you'll be participating." He chuckles and straightens out Emil's silky white hair. "It's better if you hide in the shadows sometimes."

Emil swallows and keeps silent. He has not told Lukas that he might be participating in the actual photo shoot. There was never any way to bring it up without discussing other past events—the "kidnapping" most of all.

"You have your phone?"

"Yes."

"My number is in there now, correct?"

" _Yes._ It's, like, one of the only three I have."

"Now that sounds depressing."

Emil refrains from making a face. "Hearing you say it's depressing makes it even more depressing. I'm fine, Lukas. You don't need to worry."

"It's going to be in Trip. You don't know that place very well."

"Yeah, but it's not crazy like Neon or Retro, right?" Emil also points out.

Lukas sighs and fixes his collar for what must be the seventh time. "I don't want you getting lost or kidnapped. Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"Lukas. I am one hundred. Percent. Sure."

"It will be like I wasn't even there. And we can stay in the shadows together."

"Okay, stop it. Now you're sounding like a super villain. I'm not going to get lost with my phone, and if I run into trouble, I'll tell you. I'll contact you when I arrive, I'll take the stupid video of Leon for you, and I'll call you once we're out. Happy? Did I forget anything?"

"Yes."

Emil growls through his teeth. "Now what?"

Lukas' mouth does not move. Instead, his arms spread out in a T-like shape like a scarecrow from old picture books.

"Lukas, no."

"Don't make me do it for you," he says in an airy voice.

"Lukas, please, I'm twenty years old."

"I guess I need to follow you then—"

"Alright!" Emil embarrassingly grumbles as he throws his arms around his brother and squeezes him in an awkward embrace. It has been years since he has voluntarily given his brother a hug like this. Of all the times to ask for one, it has to be when he is trying to act as much of an adult as possible.

"There, was that so hard?" Lukas smiles as his brother releases his hold.

"N-No…" he begrudgingly admits. "Gods, Lukas, leave that stuff to Mathias. I'm going."

"Don't forget to call."

"I won't!" Emil raises his voice and runs out the front door. He immediately breaks into a brisk walk and turns the nearest corner down the street in case his brother is watching him. He even looks back a few times just to be sure he is not being followed. That will be the most terrifying thing of all, not stalkers, not drug-addicts, not thieves—

When was the last time there were any large crimes in Holo? Emil stops his thought process to dwell on that. He honestly does not know why his brother even bothers to get so worked up. Holo is one of the safest cities in the country. Even in districts like Neon and Retro, crime is kept to a minimum. Emil comes to the conclusion that his brother must have read too many crime stories in his spare time. If that is the truth, then it is a very juvenile way of thinking.

* * *

The walk to the nearest station does not take too long. Like every other time since encountering Leon, Emil bypasses the Bolt line and hops aboard the Lightning Rail. He has since gone over being uncomfortable and alienated as a passenger and begun to adjust to an empty, clean seat. If he is going to be Leon Wang's soul mate, sitting in the fancier cart is expected to be an everyday privilege.

Not more than half an hour later, Emil reaches the Trip district. He pulls out his phone and calls Leon, remembering his request to leave as few messages as possible.

The call connects almost instantaneously. "Ice, you there?"

"Yes. I just got off."

"Good. Right on schedule. Hey, so, like, I'm going to try and meet you over by the Maes Warehouse, alright?"

"Okay, but I still don't know why I can't just meet you at the studio," Emil brings up. "I'm technically an invited model, right?"

"Yeah, but it's going to get crazy in there when the people start pouring in. It's also pretty big inside. I don't want to lose you."

Emil presses his lips together to keep himself from making any sort of flustered expression out in public. It sounds very thoughtful of Leon to wait for him outside of the district, and there is still a decent walk before getting to the actual studio.

"I appreciate it, Le—" He stops himself short just in case someone is listening. "Yeah. Thank you."

He hears a chuckle. "Don't mention it. If you don't see me there, just call me, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Emil hangs up and heads over in the general direction of the warehouse. Along the way, he takes the time to absorb the scenery of Trip. While definitely not as flashy as Retro or as colorful as Neon, Trip makes its claim as the business district. There are towers of skyscrapers that stack sideways along the streets and sidewalks. Overheard, the roaring echoes of jet engines and cargo planes fly overhead in great numbers, delivering packages and bringing in business vendors and representatives from all over the world. Down at eye level, the shops are not as abundant or as stylized as Volt's shopping area. Where company buildings are not present, agencies and warehouses set themselves up all along the back, covered with sheets of frosted glass and blocked off by security guards and specialized Cubes.

The pedestrians that happen to be walking instead of using vehicles are also different. Tightly fitted suits and fancy shoes stick out in shades of dark blues to blacks. Very rarely are there colors outside of the grayscale tones, and yet it fits the uptight atmosphere of this place. Most of the pedestrians appear to be businesspeople of some kind, and nearly all of them are using phones or conversing with others who might be business partners. Some carry briefcases that Emil knows to be files and physical documentation for company record purposes. Most of the contents can be carried in one's pockets nowadays, but Emil understands the importance of security measures. It is better to be safe than sorry when dealing with any form of identification and money. These notes and visuals are traits he sees quite often until his phone's map brings him to a remote corner of the main streets.

Unlike the area where Emil arrived at, these streets are pleasantly quiet and muted by the tall buildings. With it being a summer day, there is little to no wind blowing in between the skyscrapers. He begins to wish he dressed lighter for the occasion.

"Ice! Over here!"

Emil looks up, startled that someone is calling his nickname. Leon is waiting for him not ten meters away, looking incredibly plain against the rest of the crowd. He is not even wearing anything to conceal his identity, and that sets Emil on edge.

"Leon, are you crazy? Someone's going to see you! Where are those stupid—sorry, D.U.M.B.—glasses of yours?"

"I gave them back," he shrugs. "The owner needs them more than I do. That's not important. C'mon, I'll walk you there." He gives Emil a quick run down. "You don't look too bad, by the way."

Even the smallest of compliments from him makes Emil want to shy away. He has to hold himself together. He came here mainly on Leon's accord, so he needs to act more professionally. "Thank you. I can't exactly say the same about you, though."

"This getup?" Leon laughs. "Yeah, It's because all the good stuff is back at the studio. You'll see when we get there."

Emil shakes his head. "That's not what I was talking about. Won't someone recognize you without something covering your face?"

Instead of denying a mistake, Leon brushes off Emil's worry with his casual demeanor. "Are you kidding? In Trip? Everyone's so caught up in what they're doing, they don't have time to pay attention to anyone but people they have connections with."

"Really?" Emil raises an eyebrow, still skeptical about that claim. It might make sense, considering he did not appear to catch anyone staring his way. Everyone went about minding his or her own business, as Leon implied, but it feels off. "Why don't you hang out here all the time if you were worked up about publicity?"

Leon's lips twist into a contemptuous smirk. In a manner of amplifying his point, he spreads his arms out to both sides, gesturing towards the warehouses surrounding them. "Ice, look around you. It's all business here. Sure, I have connections, but most of the people here are from other countries. They're here because they've got time to spend here with a purpose, and they sure as fuck aren't going to waste it trying to convince me to deal with them."

Emil wants to chuckle. "Why, because you'll wring them dry?"

"C'mon, is that really how you think of me?" Leon asks in a mockingly hurt tone. "Time is money was what I was getting at. Whatever. We should get going. We're on time, actually."

"How on time is 'on time?'" Emil asks as he follows the celebrity through the warehouses. He uses the moment to look at the signs and logos all while listening to the planes flying overhead. It is almost like being in a completely different city with the way everything is structure and designed.

"On time is being able to review your wardrobe, meet the hosts, see the dressers, look around, and see the final setup of things. So I'd say…Mm, give or take three hours?"

" _Three hours?_ " It is fortunate for the two of them that they are in a remote area. Emil was louder than he expected.

"Yeah. So?"

"What are we supposed to do for three hours? You know the longer I stay here, the more my brother is going to worry!" He softly curses. "I still need to call him when I'm get to the studio."

"Chill," Leon responds in a typical one-worded answer.

"Leon!"

"What?" he innocently looks to his friend. "I thought you wanted to be here with me. Coming early isn't hurting anyone, is it?"

Emil feels hot air coming out of his nostrils, and he is sure it is not because of the summer heat. "No, but it feels ridiculous. You could've used that time to do your stupid community service crap."

"Ah, don't talk about that," his friend scrunches his face. "I haven't even gotten on that, yet."

"Well, you should. Then you'd have the free time you so desperately desire."

"You're sounding like your brother, Ice."

Emil throws him a look of disbelief. "How could you even know what my brother would say? You've only met him a few times."

"Yeah, but I get those vibes from you."

Emil lowers his head in exasperation and tries to distract himself with the background skyscrapers. "I can't believe you tricked me into coming early."

"I'm being truthful, Ice," Leon chuckles. "The whole meet and greet thing can take a long time. This is your first big one, so it's going to be important."

"Okay, fine. Then do you want to tell me about it while we're getting there?"

"Sure."

Leon goes into detail about how the whole process works. The first part is becoming familiar with the dressing room and the makeup and touchup booth. Some of the wealthier models have personal dressers and artists that touch them up, whereas others have to become accustomed to each other's policies. Being full of himself, as Emil remarks, Leon claims he does not need his own stylist or touch up.

"Every so often, my cousin visits me to do my hair. That's all," Leon tells Emil.

"Which cousin? Wait…" Emil holds back his question and tries to remember the trivia he studied up on. The one he still remembers is Mei Wang, the designer for Blossoms, the same store where Leon bought him his puffin hat. "Is it Mei?"

"Bingo. You're getting better."

Emil fixes his stoic face in place. "It's just something I remembered is all."

"But yeah, she normally has her hands tied with travelling overseas—clients and all—but she comes over sometimes. I think you'll like her."

"Oh," is all Emil can say, since he knows little to nothing about Mei's personality through the archives.

As they approach the studio, Leon goes into more detail about the types of people he will meet there, not necessarily exact names or photography procedures, since he knows Emil will have little knowledge about specific brands or faces. When asked, he oddly does not give any tips for how to pose, only to act the way he is if approached and be as modest as possible. So much for being prideful.

"I'll do the talking if you need me to," Leon tells him. "Just act naturally and you'll be fine. A lot of these guys have done this for so long, they've kind of got it in over their heads, so try not to turn into one of them."

"Right, and I'll be the handsomest model Holo will ever know," Emil sarcastically responds to that, and Leon laughs.

"You're not really handsome, Ice," he tells him, and it stings when he says that. However, he adds on, "You don't have that rugged look to you. I'd say you're more on the beautiful side, and that's fine with me."

Like the other times Leon compliments him, Emil can detect the underlying hint at teasing him. Part of him wants to be upset at him, yet the majority of his emotions lean towards accepting it as something positive coming from Leon. While barely audible, he mumbles a soft "Thanks" and continues listening to his friend's tips.

Not ten minutes later, Leon brings Emil to the front of the studio. He waits for his friend to contact his brother and confirm he has safely arrived. Before connecting, he mentions that Lukas does not know about his contract or possibly participating in the photo shoot.

"How long do you plan on keeping that in the dark?" Leon asks as Emil pushes the "Call" button.

"Until I know he's okay with you kidnapping me," Emil quietly spits, implying Lukas may never know. He stops as the call goes through.

"Have you arrived safely, Ice?" his brother's smooth voice asks.

"Yes. Leon's here with me."

"I see. And you're outside of the studio, I suspect. Show them both to me." Emil slightly winces, as his brother does not request a video feed in the form of a question but a demand. He pushes the camera button and displays Leon and the studio behind him as his brother requested.

"Yo, Lukas," Leon waves with a smug smile, as if telling him, "See? Ice is in one piece."

"That's Trip, alright," Lukas speaks through the speakerphone. "You're in the clear for now."

"For now?" Emil quietly echoes as he sets the phone back on its voice setting. "Is that good enough, then, Lukas?"

"For now," he repeats. "Have fun and be safe, little brother."

Emil lowers his eyes to the ground. "I'll try to. I'll call you later, then."

"Of course. Goodbye."

"Bye." He hangs up the phone and lets out a deep breath. "That's done. No lies, no fabrications, and no stupid hacking." At the last word, he glares daggers at Leon, still remember the events back at Neon.

"What?" he mockingly smirks. "You're good, aren't you?"

"It would be so much easier if you just told the truth," Emil tells him. "I know it's scary, but it makes things more approachable in the long run."

Leon throws his arm out and takes ahold of Emil by his neck. As he leads him to the studio, he has an air of resistance about him. "Relax, Ice. I haven't lied about anything, I just haven't brought you up as  _that_ person."

"That person?" Emil furrows his eyebrows. "You mean soul mate, right?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah," he echoes Leon with a more bitter tone. "What was that all about last week? Why did you say the world wasn't ready for me?"

"Because I'm a charming young bachelor who still has a whole career ahead of me. If I come out and say I have a soul mate, what do you think that's going to do to me? Or more importantly to you?"

Emil sighs. Leon has a point: being affiliated with a celebrity can attract unnecessary attention to oneself and to everyone related. He can imagine he will be flanked by people he barely knows and start having friends he never knew he had. Stations and journalists may stake his house out and try to dig into his family's past for juicy information. That will drive him and Lukas insane. Mathias, he can do without, but he will undoubtedly be dragged into it all, too. And that is only scratching the surface.

What about negative attention? How long will it be before someone insanely jealous starts to manipulate information or stalk him for "stealing" Leon away? What sort of hateful words will he have to put up with because he was chosen by fate rather than naturally getting to know Leon?

But will it make a difference, Emil wonders? He has gotten to know parts of Leon that no one else has, and he feels fine being able to know about those sides. It makes him feel privileged and comfortable, knowing how he truly feels—special, if anything. Because of that, he also believes that he has a right to feel the way he does towards Leon, and as time goes on, however gradual it may be, he has the notion that those feelings will only grow stronger. He wonders if Leon feels the same way.

"I guess," Emil lightly sighs. "It would be difficult trying to handle all the attention. If you're alright with things how they are, then…I suppose I am, too. But why would you take me to a place like this if you wanted us to keep a low profile?"

"You're  _my_ soul mate, Ice. You're not a nobody's. Sooner or later, you're going to have to get used to it. Might as well start while everyone isn't in your face."

"Maybe…?" he answers in an unsure tone. "I don't know…"

He expects things to stay there until something soft brushes up against his cheek. The same familiar smell from those nights ago floods back into memory as he registers the sensation. Against his skin, he can feel Leon's bangs tickling him and sending tiny waves of electricity up and down his body. He always believed the celebrity's hair was styled and stiff with gel, but it is surprisingly soft to the touch and naturally swept to the side with little resistance. A fleeting thought crosses his mind as he wonders if Leon will mind him touching his hair. He gets his strangely white hair handled and touched by curious people, so why would it make a difference?

But he resists the temptation as he refocuses on the more important issue at hand—that issue being how close they are to the studio and how open the streets have become.

"Leon, stop!" he hisses and jerks his head away. There is a light wet mark on his cheek where his soul mate kissed him. It tingles even as he wipes the spot with his sleeve as though Leon's lips were still there.

"Really, Ice?" Leon's voice sounds dejected after seeing him rub the kiss away.

"We're in the public eye," he attempts to defend himself. "Besides, that came out of nowhere."

He watches as the celebrity exhales and rubs the back of his neck. "I didn't think I needed a reason to kiss you," he tells him. "It was just a peck."

Emil feels his cheeks growing redder as they move to the front. He wants to cut off the conversation, but he needs to establish boundaries. He does not doubt Leon is smart; however he is also reckless. They cannot openly walk around if the walking attention-magnet is going to make a move on him at spontaneous impulses.

"If you're going to do that, give me a hint next time," he gruffly tells him. His voice quiets down as the front doors come into view. There is but one street they need to cross in order to reach the studio now. "I…I don't mind it, but tell me so I know to get ready."

"Huh. I hoped you were the type to like surprises."

Emil appears unsure. "Not really…? I like knowing what to expect before I get into something. It's just to be safe, you know. Plus I don't really like getting touched."

"Sure," comes another one-worded response from his soul mate. Emil huffs to this.

When they arrive at the studio, Emil gets a good look at the words printed on the glass door and the logo. There is an "H" and a "P" formatted in a linking loop, with a bright hot pink colored in a tinted gradient. Beyond that, the doors are shaded, so outsiders cannot see beyond the logo. On the side, he also notices a pass scanner, the type that can register phone information for convenience. Leon takes his business phone out and scans it over the reader, and the door slides open without so much as a creak.

"After you," he says, gesturing inside. Emil walks in first and widens his eyes as he sees the entire first room is nothing but pink, pink, pink. He had plenty of time to research the line, Hipster Pink, before coming to Trip, but he did not expect the entire studio to take its name so seriously. Everything down to the lighting and the decorative plants are pink. Pink rug, pink picture frames, pink cushions, even pink lighting in the water feature beyond the front desk. The oversaturation of the single color makes him uncomfortable given the cooler colors he is wearing, and it makes him wonder if that is the theme of this photography session. If so, he wonders if it is optional to pass. He has never felt too confident wearing anything drenched in the rosy color before.

"Neat, eh?" Leon chuckles like he knows Emil would have this reaction.

"It's…pink." That is the only comment Emil can muster as his eyes adjust to the flood of company colors.

"Yeah. You'd better get used to it, because the main designer  _loves_ pink."

"We're not going to be wearing only that color, are we?" Any hopes he has of feeling some relief drops when Leon shrugs.

"Mr. Wang! It's so good of you to come today!" the receptionist says with a plastic smile. "Y-You're early! Feliks isn't even here yet. Do you want me to send a message to him?" Something feels off about her, Emil thinks, and he believes it has something to do with the way her hair is tied too tightly into a bun—not to mention the odd assortment of accessories stickered all over her hair that makes her look like a sprinkle-covered donut.

"Nah, I'll call him, myself. Tell Honda I'm here, would you?" Leon tells the woman while barely glancing at her, and she gives an obedient nod. Just like that, he walks through the front desk and down the corridor towards the main open set. Emil follows uncomfortably behind, remembering how little his soul mate actually works in his workplace environment. There is no check-in process and no mention of why he, himself, is following the celebrity. With them arriving so early, there is not even escort staff to show them around or get them put into place. Everything plays out how it is. All the same, he takes this for how things function and follows diligently behind Leon.

The main studio, as expected, is pink. The saving grace behind all of this is the jet-black background from all of the piping and camera poles, offering a contrast to the otherwise glaring hue. The spotlights this time around, Emil notices, are bright white, possibly to get a good lighting when displaying models and taking photos. It is not every day when people walk around in pink lighting, so it only makes sense for them to get the most natural shine as possible.

Sound-wise, since they are three hours early, the only visible people are those with pink blouses and black pants, whom Emil suspects to be on-staff members, making the studio quieter than he expected. That is not to say it is quiet by any means. Loud pop music with a strong base booms throughout the many pink speakers littered throughout the ceilings and walls. It shakes the floors and vibrates any fragilely placed furnishing and amenities, also sending a shock through Emil's eardrums. Having always lived in a quiet household, he has never gotten used to the loud music that plays during events or parties. The same experiences can be said about going to Retro and Waves.

"Our place is this way," Leon tells him and checks his phone. Emil glances over and sees that it is a map of the studio. Being seemingly invited into the studio on such short notice, he suspects that is the reason he was never given a proper invitation or a map, and he is grateful Leon has one on him.

As it turns out, Hipster Pink's studio is larger than he imagined. There are multiple sets aside from the large pink setup in the front area. Behind, there are small areas for shooting simple backdrop photos and aisles upon aisles of dressing rooms, makeup stations, and wardrobes. Everything is marked or tagged with some form of simply designed Plastichip, displaying dimly lit numbers, names, and designer information. All these appear to be women's clothing, he notices, however. He wonders if there is a completely difference section for the men, seeing as how Leon will be participating.

A smile makes it way across his lips as he pictures the rebellious and concealing pop star wearing pink of all colors. It is not that he has a problem wit the color, itself, but it will be a dramatic change to his otherwise flashy or dark attire. Picturing him in something fluffy like a boa or being adorned with glittering pink pants makes him chuckle, and Leon hears it.

"Something up?" he looks back to him.

"Nothing," he shyly denies, but Leon persists.

"C'mon, it's rare for me to hear you laugh. What's up?" He does not leave it just in the form of a simple statement and question. He leans in and brings his hand around Emil's arm, pulling him close to his chest as they walk. Part of the overtaken new model wants to push Leon away, afraid someone will start getting ideas; however, the inner side of him wants them to stay this way, being able to feel so close and intimate in such an unfamiliar setting. The inner side of him wins, and he stays within Leon's grasp.

"I was thinking about what you'd look like in the Hipster Pink line," he tells his soul mate. "There's a lot of pink, after all."

"You think?" Leon smirks. "You don't believe I can't pull pink off?"

Emil quickly redirects his initial implication. He does not mean to offend the celebrity, even if he knows his emotions are being teased. "Th-That's not what I was saying. I'm just used to seeing you wear more dark clothing. You know…black and stuff."

Leon laughs. "Black and stuff?" he echoes. "That's because I'm always trying to blend in with the crowd when seeing you. I can do bright colors if you want me to. We can try out some stuff in the dressing room. What d'you say?"

Emil blinks and moves his eyes away. "Sure…" Trying out new clothes means having to strip at some point. He wonders if Leon will be the only one changing while they are waiting for the rest of the models and photographers to show up. Thinking about seeing Leon shirtless again makes him blush, and he is grateful the music is so loud and the lighting is so pink. He is afraid Leon might hear his heartbeat growing louder.

The room they go to is a cozy dressing room with a label spelling out "Leon Wang." Emil notices how far in the back his room appears to be and wonders if this was intentional or just a mere coincidence. There are almost no people around so far towards the back, and even the music has softened up a bit. Leon tells Emil he is free to look around while he makes some calls. One of those calls must be to Feliks, whom he knows is the lead designer for Hipster Pink and a fanatic of the fashion brand color.

Emil goes to the mirrors first, which attract him because of the bright white lighting compared to the rest of the rosy tint. Some mirrors are bendable for angling at different perspectives, perhaps to get a better look of one's appearance as a whole. There are few make-up items, as Emil recalls Leon saying he hardly needs to use any of the stuff. Neatly aligned on the side are expensive-looking bottles of what appear to be colognes.

Curious and believing Leon will not mind, Emil takes a random bottle and sprays it on his wrist to test it. His father used to do this whenever browsing through the aisles of cologne and perfume. Emil remembers how he would take the sample bottle, give it a little spray on the front of his wrist, and bend down to let him and his brother take a smell. If he and Lukas agreed on the smell, he would purchase a bottle, claiming their mother would like it, too.

Emil is not sure if Lukas will like the smell of this cologne, seeing how it has a spicy kick to it. He wrinkles his nose and sets it down. The smell is not familiar to him, even on Leon's body. He cannot imagine the celebrity wearing something like this, as he has often known him to wear subtle but sharp smells. The only thing he can think of is either this scent is only for special occasions, or these bottles were placed here by default.

Moving on, Emil studies the drawers. There are few of them to be seen around the room, probably to avoid too much confusion during the changing process, and each one has a Plastichip label attached. One label he reads says "Spares" while another says "Pins." He takes the labels for what they are and then goes to the barred racks which have scarves, belts, and decorative chains hanging in an erratic order. There must be some reason to how they are arranged, but he cannot make it out. Some belts are paired with chains, and other scarves of dissociating colors are matched with scarves of uneven lengths and sizes.

He then diverts his attention to the foldable dressing screen that, unsurprisingly, is pink with plastic bubbles for aesthetics. He looks behind the screen and sees a decent enough space in the corner for changing should anyone need any privacy. There are even mirrors on the back end for the changer to look into. Right next to the screen is the large rack of clothing. Most of them are arranged in a reasonable line-up of pants, blouses, coats, and undergarments. Whatever does not match the studio's iconic color goes onto a separate rack, and from there, a miscellaneous arrangement by pattern and size.

Leon is still talking after Emil finishes looking around. Bored and without anything else to do, he sits himself on a squishy pink pillow seat and waits for the calls to finish. There is little to eavesdrop about. Most of the calls consist of Leon confirming questions or setting up times and dates for events Emil does not know about. One of the calls is completely in Jiang, and Emil wonders if he is calling anyone from his family. If there is shouting, he suspects it is Yao on the other end, but none of that happens, and he is left to assume it is someone else.

Finally, after the fourth call, Leon hangs up and throws himself on the spot next to Emil. "Sorry about that," he exhales through a relieved smile. "I had to make sure everyone knows I'm here, so I don't get into any more trouble."

Emil smiles slightly and leans back. "I thought you'd be having Kasem tag along after what happened with your birthday concert."

Upon mentioning his birthday shenanigan, Leon starts to play with his bangs. "No, I'm good on that, so as long as I don't fuck up. Cheng talked to my old man about some things, and shit got cleared up."

"Huh. You're lucky to have someone like that," Emil comments, recalling how fond of his cousin Leon is.

"Mm? I'm lucky to have  _you_ , Ice," Leon tells him in gooey words and buries his lips into his white hair.

"Quit it," Emil snaps, stiff as a board from the sudden advance. "What if someone sees us?"

"There's nobody here, Ice. I can lock the door if that's what you're worried about."

"No!" Emil outright refuses, hoping the rosy walls will mask his blush. He knows enough about the typical movie scene where two people in a locked room can do things he is not prepared for. A locked room will raise suspicions regardless of what he and Leon are doing, and he wants to play things safely. This is supposed to be an innocent gathering to see each other again, not… _that_.

"Leon…" Emil breathes in uneven intervals. He cannot bear to look at the celebrity for fear that he will lose himself in his penetrating golden eyes. "…I just wanted to see you again. I…I missed you…Can't we just leave it at that?"

He feels a pause coming from Leon as he does not move or say anything. The cushions shift as he redirects his weight away from Emil, much to his relief. "Sorry, Ice. I've missed you, too."

It is strange hearing such tender words coming from the celebrity's lips. Even if he has uttered sweeter and more affectionate words on camera, they were only written as such. Emil detects the sincerity in Leon's voice and how truthful he sounds, and in that moment, he forgets his capability as an actor and feels guilty for rejecting him. As such, he immediately apologies, too, albeit not as smoothly as Leon does.

"No, I-I should be the one who's sorry," he bashfully refutes. "I'm being selfish…"

Leon raises an eyebrow. This is interesting. Emil may be modest, but he did not expect him to openly admit a fault—at least, not without pointing out something faulty of himself first. He decides to inquire about it. "How are you being selfish?"

He sees the answer before Emil even answers him, even though the answer is as indirect and vague as he can possibly state. "Um…you know…You…On the day after your birthday, you gave me something to hang onto…"

A smile spread across Leon's face. He knows what he lent him, and he wants it back—with interest. The coy nature of Emil's embarrassment is only amplified by his quivering eyes and reserved body posture. Having studied as an actor nearly all of his life, he can tell what Emil is feeling from his bound arms and knees locked together by his chest. Emil wants him so badly, and he does not even know it, being the pitiful soul mate he is.

That is fine with him, Leon thinks. He will be more than happy to show him what his thoughts desire and more. But first he needs to open Emil back up without forcing himself onto him directly. Emil is a delicate little bubble that can be more easily moved than popped. Advancing on him from the outside will make things too fast. He has to be careful, just as Cheng warned him about. Emil will break if handled the wrong way.

So, he starts off in a safe direction. "Hang onto that for a little while longer, Ice," he smirks. "I'll collect later." He gets up and straightens the wrinkles out of his pants. "You still want to see me dress up, or do you maybe want to see your room? I have the number on my phone."

"Eh?" Emil's thoughts are still trying to correctly process after the events that just occurred. He is slow on his response and not as confident as he can be. "Um, sure, I'll see my room instead." He should be asking why Leon knows his room number or even why he has it instead of himself. The celebrity just smiles on the outside and leads his soul mate out of his stuffy dressing room.

"It's just down this way, Ice," Leon says and shows him to the other end of the corridor. They do not even need to turn before reaching a room that only reads "Ice," followed by some numbers and a label that does not make any sense out to the new model.

"That's right, you never gave them my real name…" his voice fades out as he stares at the label. "I didn't even see this room when coming here."

Leon rolls his eyes, more so at the designers of this place than at his soul mate. "You'd be surprised at what you can miss when everything's the same color. I'd never decorate this way."

"Me neither," Emil agrees and goes into his designated dressing room.

His dressing room looks just like Leon's minus the larger set of clothing and bottles of cologne. Interestingly enough, the clothes on display are not entirely pink, causing him to wonder if perhaps there is a separate session all to himself.

"I have no idea what the program is going to be like," Leon says as he looks over Emil's clothes with him. "Feliks isn't here, yet, so we have to wait before seeing the order. Then after that, we still have the outfits to worry about…" He picks out something of interest and takes it out for Emil to see. "You want to try some stuff on, Ice?"

Of the many questions Emil has about how this entire thing plays out, the one that comes to mind is, "How do you know if any of these fit me?"

"Easy. I gave them your body proportions."

" _What?_ "

Leon completely ignores Emil's outburst. "You're a pretty slim build. A little on the short side, too, but that's nothing a little camera perspectives can't fix. And you're cute, so that's a plus."

"Wait! No! When did you—? How did you get my body proportions?"

Leon laughs and takes his hand out, aligning it from the top of his head to Emil's. There is barely any difference. "Relax, Ice. I'm not selling myself short—no pun intended—but we're almost the same height. I just took a couple of ticks off your arm and leg sizes because let's be honest: you're as scrawny as a stick."

It is childish and pointless to refute that statement, and Emil cannot deny that is practically the truth. He never works out, always studying and cooping himself up in his house or the university like a hermit. Still, he feels that it came off as a slight insult and will at least try to defend himself.

"Are you saying it's not good to be scrawny?" he asks.

His soul mate makes an unreadable face. "No. That's fine for someone like you, actually. I'm pointing out how that's your style, but that's also how I gauged your body proportions. Let's see if I was right, shall we? Because if I fucked up, you're out of the show."

Emil haughtily crosses his arms. "Meaning it would've been pointless for me to come  _three hours early_  to this thing."

"Give me some credit," Leon says while picking out a scarf. "I'll make it up to you if I'm wrong. How about I take you on a trip?"

"Leon…"

"I'll take you with me to Altorien, and I'll show you where the best food is. It'll be a blast."

Emil's brain is a mess. "What? No. You—Stop. One thing at a time. You can't just bring things up out of the blue and think people work on your clock. First of all, give me the clothes."

"Gotcha." Leon hands him the clothes he picked out and backs up into the far corner out of consideration. "Tell me if you're having trouble putting anything on, and I'll be  _more_ than happy to help."

"Do they teach you lines like that in the studio, Leon?" Emil groans at the exaggerated dialogue.

"You'd better believe it, Ice," he chuckles, admitting the cheesiness of the line.

Emil hopelessly shakes his head. "Well, this isn't a movie, and I'm not one of your cheap actors." He goes to the folding screen and looks over it to make sure Leon is still stationary. "Don't come over here."

Leon puts his hands up to show he is harmless. "I'm right here, Ice. I'm not moving."

His lips tremble in a shaky frown, and he retreats back into the relative safety of the screen. "Good."

"Don't you trust me?" he hears from a falsely hurt actor's voice.

"I 'trust' you to screw with me," he throws at him, only for the quick-thinking celebrity to snowball it right back.

"Ah, that's a night I look forward to," he teases, sending Emil's entire nerves on edge. All of a sudden, even as he is aware Leon has not moved from his spot, he feels uncomfortable being in the same room as him. They have never discussed that stage in their relationship before, and even knowing that Leon set his mind on that train of thought makes him uneasy. He changes as quickly as he can, checking the odd cuffs on his sleeves and seeing if the pants are too long or too short. Everything is just right, however unsettling that fact is.

"Ice?" Leon calls to him at the corner. "You okay? You're not saying anything."

"I'm fine," he tells him, poking his head out from the other side. "I just…what you said made me kind of…"

"Oh." The celebrity's voice quiets down. "If you want, I can tell you I was joking."

"As if you weren't implying something in the first place," Emil disapprovingly frowns and presses his lips together. Everything can be like a joke to this guy, he irritably thinks. He wonders if he takes anything seriously—their relationship most of all. It has come to a point where he knows he should understand this is how Leon behaves, but if he wants to commit, this is not the way he should be going about handling this. What Leon was talking about is an important matter than should not be discussed so openly.

"Maybe it's just Lukas…" he mutters to himself and looks into the mirror again. He frowns as he sees how strange he looks adorned in pink. It does not match his eyes or go well with his hair. Even someone as inexperienced with modern fashion knows that. Nevertheless, he gingerly steps out and averts his eyes from Leon, hoping the pain of embarrassment will be swift and quick.

"You look nice." Well, that is unexpected.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Emil flushes with hot blood. He hates this feeling, since he cannot bear to look in his own soul mate's direction when his body acts this way.

"No, I'm telling the truth, Ice," Leon insists. "You're cute."

Avoiding eye contact is all Emil can do to save himself from breaking down in front of him. He tries to find some logical reasoning in Leon's words in order to set his nerves straight. This is all too much.

"Calling something or someone 'cute' is reserved for girls and kids," he finally produces.

"You're special. You're cute to me." Emil can tell Leon is giving him one of his cocky smiles, and it pisses him off. How dare he make him feel this way, especially in a surreal environment like this one. "You didn't fluff your collar right, Ice. Come here, and I'll fix it for you."

Without thinking he goes to his soul mate to let him fix his collar. As Leon straightens out the folds and fluffs up the ruffled area, he continues speaking. "I wasn't kidding when I said I missed you, you know."

Emil pauses shortly before mumbling a soft "I know" as if to humor him. The response, however, makes Leon smile and look up at him. Even in lighting like this, he can still make out the golden flecks in his narrow, scheming gaze. At such a proximity, he can see every strand of brown hair perfectly in place, the creamy color of his flawless skin, and the thinly parted lips that have touched his own. He does not realize how warm his outfit is until now. Suddenly the collar around his neck feels tight, and the fabric is more than itchy. He does not understand. It was fine just a few seconds ago, so why does he feel so irritated now?

Leon. It has to be him. Only he can make him feel things he has never hoped to feel before, and it can be done without words. The little hints in body language and facial features tell each other what they desire. It is practically instinct.

Like a muggy film blurring out any logic, Emil's mind goes numb. Suddenly, everything turns into a fever dreamlike state, pink hues and hot breaths mashing into one twisted fantasy. Emil cannot remember who moved first. One moment they are a decent distance apart, the next they are clumsily fumbling on the only cushion seat in the dressing room. Leon barely gives Emil any chances to breathe as he locks his lips onto his and cups his face with his strong hands. The sounds that come from the inexperienced soul mate are short and stifled. It is embarrassing. The heat in his stomach, the breathlessness from the kissing, the jolts he feels as Leon runs his lips down his neck…all of it makes him feel helpless. He was not prepared for this. Not yet.

In a desperate attempt to break from Leon's spell, an icy whisper utters the celebrity's name. The kissing does not stop at his lips, and while their clothes remain in tact, Emil can feel fingers trailing lower, progressing from his neck to his chest to his hips. He calls again. Louder this time. And again, nothing. He flinches when something warm and wet slithers over a tender spot in between his neck and collarbone. Something grabs a pinch of skin in the same area and begins to suck, sending an entirely different set of nerves kicking into Emil's brain. At that moment, the spell breaks off, and he finds the strength to pull himself away.

"Leon, stop!" he shouts as loudly as he dares. His breath is shaky. His legs are weak. A thin film of sweat drenches his forehead and trickles down his cheek. His stomach is tied in knots. Hardly any sound comes out from his throat as he stares at his stunned soul mate. Leon looks just as shocked at he does, but not for the same reasons; he is more surprised by the fact that someone would reject him.

"I'm sorry," he immediately responds like an automatic toy. He keeps his distance, but his eyes are always on the door. His feet angle themselves out as if ready to break into a run should Emil try to escape. It will be a nuisance if his soul mate tries to leave.

A shaky voice finally breaks from Emil's fragile body. "Y-You tried to…"

"No." He speaks in a firm tone. "Ice, I wasn't. I would never try to do that to you."

"Then what  _was_ that?" he snaps. Having regained mobility, he slaps his hand to his neck and rubs it. The spot is still wet, so he wipes it dry with the sleeve of his outfit.

Taken aback by Emil's harshness, Leon lowers his head in what looks like guilt. He makes it aware that he knows how much he has hurt his soul mate; it plays out in his facial expression, his voice, and in his carefully articulated words.

"I didn't mean to hurt you or scare you," he tells him. "All these emotions just came out. I couldn't control them. I've wanted to see you again, Ice. You have no idea how much…I'm sorry…"

Emil sniffs and rubs the sore spot again. The sensation lingers even more than a kiss. What makes him unsettled most of all is how much he actually wishes he did not stop Leon. It did not hurt; it merely caught him by surprise. He feels awful for mistrusting his soul mate. While he has not been entirely sincere, he has not been completely inconsiderate to his feelings. That he is apologizing and projecting his inner emotions is a large step in their relationship since first meeting him.

Feeling strangely guilty for cutting Leon off the way he did, Emil does not take long to forgive him. "It's fine, Leon. I-I forgive you."

His soul mate's eyes light up. "You do?" and it sounds genuine.

"Y-Yes…" he slightly nods. "I forget sometimes…about how different we are." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry. The way you act is something I'm still trying to get used to. You've done this kind of thing so many times in your movies, I'm sure, and—"

"You're wrong, Ice," Leon cuts him off, moving closer to his face but not so much that he can reach out and touch him. "I've never done that with anyone. It's only been you. It can  _only_  be you."

His words flatter Emil. He has always thought that Leon has been teasing him with his sappy words, but he has rarely stopped to consider maybe the reason it sounds so out-of-place is because this is a first for the long-time celebrity, too. If this is really how he has been acting because of inexperience and new emotions, he should not have rejected him so readily. For all he knows, Leon has been confused, too.

"L-Leon…I don't know what to say…" Emil fumbles over words and trips up in his speech patterns. He curses himself for stuttering and trailing off now, in a time when he wants to be able to reassure the validity of their relationship.

Fortunately, Leon steps in to save him from himself. "You don't need to say anything, Ice. I was wrong. Tell me if I lose myself or hurt or scare you again. Let me know. I'll stop."

"O-Okay…"

"Good," Leon softly smiles. "Now…hmm. What are we going to do about this?"

Emil tilts his head. "About what?"

"That." He points to his neck right to the place where he was sucking. Emil rubs it and dismisses the spot.

"It doesn't hurt, Leon. I'm fine."

"Well, yeah, that's good that it doesn't hurt, but that's not what I'm getting at." He moves his eyes behind him. "You might want to check out a mirror."

"Huh?" His heart jumps when he catches onto his soul mate's implication. He immediately goes for the mirror by the dressing mirror and pulls down his collar down from his neck.

Standing out like a dark stain on a white shirt, a deep red mark lays wedged between his neck and collarbone, right where Leon kissed him. It is not a bruise—not by far—but he cannot imagine what Lukas might think of it if he sees it.

"O-Oh…" he stutters. "L-Leon, I can't go out like this. What if the clothes I wear doesn't cover this?"

"The power of photo manipulation," Leon answers like being asked what time it is.

Emil lets out a shaky sigh. "That's not what I meant. What if someone…you know…gets ideas?"

"Mm, I suppose that can be a problem. Honestly, I don't mind what they think, but that's coming from the guy who doesn't have a hickey."

"Is that what it's called?" Emil frowns, unfamiliar with the term. "Well…it would just be easier for me to opt out at this point."

Leon straightens his posture. "So you're just going to bail?"

"I might. Can't I?"

"That's kind of selfish…" It can practically be considered a joke, coming from Leon. Emil glares at him as a result.

"Then what should I do? There's no guarantee I'm going to be having a collar on all of the time, and it's bad enough if I have to cover it at all."

"True," Leon acknowledges. "This could be bad for your reputation. Shit, I'm super sorry, Ice. I can talk with Feliks when he comes if that's what you want."

"I-If you don't mind. Thank you, Leon. I can still stay and watch you, can't I?"

"Definitely. No point in coming if you're not going to get something out of this." He gets up to stretch. "Crap. Well…maybe we should get some fresh air outside, what do you think? All this pink is killing me."

Emil is quick to incline. "Sure. Let's get out of here." He gets up to go when Leon stops him at the door.

"Ice, we're still cool…right?"

Unlike before when he had doubts, he is able to answer with confidence. "We're soul mate, Leon. It's meant to be. Somewhere down the road, I'm going to have to know that's who you are. I mean…as long as you're not an asshole."

The last sentence makes Leon laugh, and it breaks any tension in the atmosphere. "Alright. I'll try not to be an asshole to you. Soul mates?" He extends his hand out to him, waiting for Emil to take it.

Sighing more so in amusement and understanding than in annoyance, Emil takes his hand. "Soul mates." Then, Leon kisses his hand. Emil rolls his eyes.

"Let's get out of here."

After changing out of the frilly pink outfit, Emil exits first, having the door being opened by Leon, and is about to make his way down the hallway with the celebrity when he literally bumps into another person.

"Whoops! Sorry about that!" a peppy voice apologizes. It has to belong to a woman, and that is not just because of the voice.

"I-I'm so sorry," Emil apologizes back, his cheeks a bright camouflaged pink. "I should've watched where I was going. I didn't mean it."

"Oh, no, it's okay." It is now after collecting himself that Emil can see who he bumped into. She is a decently short young woman with long dark brown hair and a fair complexion. Like the rest of Leon's family, she bears golden eyes with a brighter honey color instead of a sparkling gold. Other than that, there are not too many defining features about her other than a loose strand of hair sticking out from the side of her locks. Emil means to leave the profiling at that, since he does not plan on seeing her again, but she bars his path as soon as she gets a quick look at him.

"Wait. You're Ice, aren't you?" she says, and it makes Emil's heart lurch.

"Um…" Unsure of how to respond, he looks back to Leon for answers. "Y-Ye…?"

But instead of answers, Leon has questions. "Mei?" he blinks. "What are you doing here?"


End file.
